I 


Charles   Jossel^/n 


BJOLOGT 

LIBRARY 


\ 


CONTENTS: 

Psychical  PUenomena  in  Gencral-ExternaUsation  of  Sensi- 
bUtty  ^spontaneous  Phenomena -Multiple  Personality  and 
Abnormal  Consciousness-Abnormal  Faculties  in  Hypnotic 
SuS- Abnormal  Dreams -Phenomena  observed  among 
fh?^rienta1s-  Phenomena  of  Lucidity.  Motricity  and  Pro- 
cation  of  the  Double  observed  in  Fakirs  or  Oriental  Sorcer- 
er-P.Stergelst  Phenomena- Haunted  Houses- Telepathy - 
crystal  Gazing  -  Mental  Audition      Typtology  -  Automatic 
Wrmng  Md  Lucidity -Lucidity  in  Somnambulism -Photo- 
TaS  of  the  invisible  or  of  Thought-Reports  of  the  London 
£d  Milan  Committees  on  Psychical  Phe".ome"a-P^nomena 
of  Motricity- Movement  of  Objects  without  Contact-Phe- 
nom"na7Levitation-Materialisations-Study  of  the  M«d.um 
sambor- Professor  C.  Richefs  Observations  at  the  ViUa 
C^men  -  Expertments    made    with   Eusapia    Paladlno - 
A  General  Consideration  of  Psychical  Phenomena. 


PSYCHICAL  AND  SUPERNORMAL 
PHENOMENA 


PSYCHICAL 

AND    SUPERNORMAL 

PHENOMENA 

THEIR    OBSERVATION    AND 
EXPERIMENTATION 


BY 

DR.    PAU  L    JOI  RE 

Professor  at  the  Psycho- Physiological  Institute  of  France 
President  of  the  Societe  Universelle  d' Etudes  Psychiques 


TRANSLATED    BY   DUDLEY   WRIGHT 

///^ 
WITH   22   ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW   YORK 

FREDERICK  A.   STOKES   CO. 


BIOLOGT 
UBRARY 


t^l 


PREFACE 


The  thorough  study  of  Hypnotism  has  drawn  attention  to 
phenomena  which  seem,  on  the  one  hand,  only  to  be  the 
continuation  of  hypnotic  phenomena,  and,  on  the  other,  to 
be  connected  with  faculties  of  the  human  mind  hitherto 
unknown. 

These  phenomena  are,  first  of  all,  those  of  mental  sug- 
gestion and  thought-transmission,  which  we  have  studied 
in  our  Traite  de  VHypnotisme. 

In  other  cases,  we  have  witnessed  phenomena  of  lucidity 
in  certain  subjects  placed  in  a  condition  of  deep  somnam- 
bulism. In  studying  lucidity  more  closely  we  noticed 
that  certain  special  circumstances,  and  in  particular  a 
methodical  training,  develop  this  faculty  in  a  singular 
manner  in  those  endowed  with  it. 

^~The  investigator  is  thus  led  to  inquire  whether  this 
faculty  of  lucidity  does  not  sometimes  appear  spon- 
taneously, in  the  same  way  as  we  witness  spontaneous 
somnambulism  in  connection  with  induced  somnambulism. 
He  then  finds  a  certain  number  of  cases  of  telepathy 
which  seem  to  be  closely  connected  Avith  the  instances  of 
lucidity. 

After  embarking  upon  the  study  of  telepathy  it  is  not 
long  before  we  become  convinced  that  the  phenomena  of 
this  category  are  very  complex. 

In  fact,  while  certain  instances  of  telepathy  are  only 
the  mental  perception  of  a  fact  that  has  occurred  at  a 
distance,  there  are   others  in  which   this  perception  is 
accompanied    by   an  hallucination,   and   sometimes   this^' 
hallucination  is  collective. 

At  other  times,  hallucination  is  no  longer  a  sufficient 
explanation,  because  the  phenomenon  has  left  permanent 

V 

^^15777 


vi  PREFACE 

traces — the  displacement  of  objects,  impressions,  objective 
and.  undeniable  traces  that  a  force  accompanied  the 
telepathic  vision. 

If  we  wish  to  transfer  these  phenomena  we  have 
observed  to  the  domain  of  experiment,  we  find,  among 
some  subjects,  in  certain  of  the  hypnotic  conditions  we 
have  described,  phenomena  of  externalisation — externali- 
sation  of  sensibility  and  of  force. 

We  have  thus  brought  under  our  observation  the  chain 
which  seems  to  connect  hypnotic  and  psychical  phenomena. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  entering  upon  the  study  of  the 
whole  of  psychical  phenomena,  we  easily  witness  a  natural 
progression  from  the  most  simple  phenomena  up  to  the 
most  complex. 

All  these  phenomena  are  connected  one  with  another, 
in  a  continuous  manner,  in  such  a  way  that  we  are  con- 
vinced that  the  phenomena  are  undoubtedly  of  the  same 
order,  in  spite  of  their  apparent  diversity  and  complexity 
in  manifestation. 

We  may  take  abnormal  dreams  for  our  starting-point, 
dreams  with  manifestation  of  lucidity,  and  premonitory 
dreams,  which  lead  us  to  telepathic  dreams.  We  then 
come  to  telepathic  phenomena  with  apparitions,  telepathic 
phenomena  in  a  waking  state,  and  to  collective  telepathic 
visions. 

Without  going  beyond  telepathy,  we  find  some  instances 
where  telepathic  visions  have  left  objective  traces  of  their 
existence.  We  are  thus  forced  to  ask  ourselves  if  thought 
is  quite  as  abstract  a  phenomenon  as  we  have  hitherto 
believed  it  to  be,  and  if,  in  certain  instances,  it  is  not 
capable  of  creating  a  durable  entity  possessing  indepen- 
dent force. 

We  are  thus  led  to  examine  the  experiments  made 
in  the  photography  of  thought. 

Beginning  with  phenomena  of  the  same  character, 
brought  into  the  domain  of  experiment,  we  find  facts 
similar  to  those  of  telepathy  in  crystal-gazing,  and  amongst 
those  of  crystal-gazing  we  find  some  which  present  the 
characteristics  of  lucidit3^ 


PREFACE  vii 

Lucidity  appears  to  be  a  special  faculty  in  certain 
subjects,  and  we  sec  that  Ave  may  search  for  and  experi- 
ment with  it  in  the  somnambulistic  condition. 

Lucidity  is  also  shown  in  other  circumstances,  and 
that,  Avithout  soumambulism  having  been  induced  in  the 
subject,  but  spontaneously  exhibited.  These  facts  are 
connected,  by  their  spontaneity,  with  the  phenomena  of 
lucidity  observed  by  means  of  crystal-gazing. 

We  noAV  come  to  the  phenomena  of  externalisation, 
which  in  hypnology  we  connect  with  the  mediumistic 
states.  The  first  of  these  phenomena  is  that  of  exter- 
nalisation of  sensibility. 

We  pass  from  this  to  more  advanced  phenomena — we 
observe  the  externaHsation  of  force,  movement  of  objects 
Avithout  contact,  raps  and  various  noises ;  finally,  the 
creation  of  a  form  having  its  OAvn  objectivity  and  capable 
of  developing  a  special  force,  although  ahvays  in  relation 
Avith  that  of  the  medium.  Hence  the  most  complex 
phenomenon  of  all,  viz.  Materialisation. 


"  I  confess  that  I  do  not  see  why  the  very  existence 
of  an  invisible  world  may  not  in  part  depend  on  the 
personal  response  which  any  of  us  may  make  to  the 
religious  appeal.  God  Himself,  in  short,  may  draw 
vital  strength  and  increase  of  very  being  from  our 
fidelity.  For  my  own  part  I  do  not  know  what  the 
sweat  and  blood  and  tragedy  of  this  life  mean,  if  they 
mean  anything  short  of  this.  If  this  life  be  not  a  real 
fight,  in  which  something  is  eternally  gained  for  the 
universe  by  success,  it  is  no  better  than  a  game  of  pri- 
vate theatricals  from  which  one  may  withdraw  at  will. 
But  it  feels  like  a  real  fight — as  if  there  were  some- 
thing really  wild  in  the  universe  which  we,  with  all 
our  idealities  and  faithlessness,  are  needed  to  redeem ; 
and  first  of  all  to  redeem  our  own  hearts  from 
atheisms  and  fears.  ..." 

William  James. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. 


PAGE 


3AP.  1 

I.  Psychical  Phenomena  in  General      .         .         a 
II.  Externalisation  op  Sensibility  ...       14 
III.  Spontaneous  Phenomena— Multiple  Person- 
ality AND  Abnormal  Consciousness— Ab- 
normal Faculties  in  Hypnotic  Subjects 

IV,  Abnormal  Dreams 

V.  Phenomena  observed  among  the  Orientals 
VI.  Phenomena    of    Lucidity,    Motricity,    and 
Projection   of  the  Double   observed   in 
Fakirs  or  Oriental  Sorcerers 
VII.  Poltergeist  Phenomena 
VIII.  Haunted  Houses  . 
IX.  Telepathy     . 
X.  Telepathy  {continued)   . 
XI.  Crystal-Gazing     . 
XII.  Crystal-Gazing  {continued) 

XIII.  Mental  Audition 

XIV.  Crystal  Visions  combined  with  Lucidity    .     181 

196 
XV.  Typtology 

XVI.  Typtology  {continued)    .         •         •         •         •     ^^ 
XVII.  Automatic  Writing  and  Lucidity        .        .     215 
XVIII.  Typtology  and  Lucidity       ...  221 

XIX.  Typtology  and  Lucidity  {continued) 
XX.  Typtology     ••.••• 


30 
44 
68 


79 
92 
102 
120 
136 
156 
164 
175 


248 
271 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAOB 

XXI.  Lucidity 281 

XXII.  Lucidity  in  Spontaneous  Somnambulism      .  293 

XXIII.  Lucidity   in    a    State   of    Light    Somnam- 

bulism Artificially  Induced    .         .         .  298 

XXIV.  Lucidity  in  Deep  Somnambulism          .        .  309 
XXV.  Lucidity  in  the  Future      .        .         .        .341 

XXVI.  Photography  of  the  Invisible  or  of  Thought  360 

XXVII.  Reports  of   the  London   and   Milan  Com- 
mittees ON  Psychical  Phenomena     .         .  382 

XXVIII.  Phenomena  of  Motricity     ....  414 

XXIX.  Movement  of  Objects  without  Contact      .  426 

XXX.  Phenomena  of  Lbvitation    ....  435 

XXXI.  Levitation   Phenomena  observed  with  the 

Medium  D.  D.  Home         ....  444 

XXXII.  Levitation  Phenomena  with  Eusapia  Pala- 

dino 451 

XXXIII.  Materialisations  or  Phantoms    .        .        .  460 

XXXIV.  Materialisations 472 

XXXV.  Study  of  the  Medium  Sambor     .        .         .478 

XXXVI.  Professor  C.  Richet's  Observations  at  the 

Villa  Carmen 500 

XXXVII.  Experiments   made  with   Eusapia  Paladino 

AT  Genoa  by  Professor  Morselli     .         .  526 

XXXVIII.  Method  of  Experimentation  in   Psychical 

Phenomena         ......  548 

XXXIX.  Method  of  Experimentation — Induced  Phe- 
nomena      .......  577 

XL.  Method  of  Experimenting   .         .         .        .610 
XLI.  A    General    Consideration    of    Psychical 

Phenomena 627 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

CHAPTER    I 

PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL 

Certain  strange  phenomena,  which  occur  from  time  to 
time,  have,  by  reason  of  their  mysterious  appearance 
the  power  of  forcibly  impressing  the  imagination  of  the 
multitude. 

The  sphere  in  which  they  are  produced,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  presented,  have  the  effect  of 
adding,  often  largely,  to  their  importance,  and  of  causing 
them  to  undergo  singular  transformations.  The  news- 
papers seize  upon  these  sensational  facts  with  great 
avidity,  and  relate  them  with  a  profusion  of  details,  more 
or  less  correct,  but  always  skilfully  arranged,  so  as  to  add 
further  to  the  effect  already  produced. 

Among  the  people  who  have  come  into  closer  contact 
with  these  facts,  or  have  been  more  or  less  actively  con- 
cerned with  them,  there  are  always  to  be  found  a  certain 
number  who  purposely  add  to  the  scenic  effect,  whether  it 
be  to  serve  well-defined  interests,  or  whether  they  are  led 
on  in  spite  of  themselves  to  supplement  the  truth  by 
mirages  produced  by  their  own  imagination. 

The  facts  in  themselves  are  sometimes  very  simple 
whether  they  come  within  the  category  of  those  which  we 
observe  spontaneously  in  unhealthy  persons,  or  whether 
they  are  of  the  class  of  induced  hypnotic  phenomena. 
These  are,  for  example,  the  phenomena  of  lethargy  and 
catalepsy  and  hallucinations,  which  may  become  more 
complicated  through  collective  or  repeated  hallucinations. 

A 


2.  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

But  such  facts  only  now  astonish  a  small  number  of 
persons,  who  are  entirely  ignorant  of  modern  scientific 
discoveries :  it  is  not  of  them  we  desire  to  speak. 

There  are  sometimes  even  stranger  phenomena,  more 
difficult  to  explain  and  to  verify,  and  in  which,  con- 
sequently, exaggeration  and  fraud  have  free  play ;  these 
may  be  visual  phenomena  which  do  not  come  within  the 
class  of  hallucinations  of  which  mention  has  already  been 
made ;  or  they  may  be  phenomena  of  a  purely  psychical 
character,  such  as  the  knowledge  of  an  event  happening 
far  away,  or  even  one  which  has  not  yet  taken  place; 
seeing  and  describing  objects  at  a  distance,  or  reading  the 
thoughts  of  another  person. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  suspicion  with 
which  serious-minded  persons  receive  these  strange  stories, 
and  the  unpleasant  impression  naturally  made  upon 
them  when  they  see  these  facts  distorted  and  turned  to 
profitable  account  by  certain  persons  with  more  or  less 
questionable  motives. 

It  must  also  be  added  that  when  a  man  of  intelligence 
and  good  faith  wishes  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  matters 
and  devotes  himself  to  serious  inquiry,  conducted  without 
prejudice,  he  very  often  simj)ly  ends  by  discovering  fraud ; 
all  the  marvels  disappear,  and  all  that  remains  is  very 
easily  explained.  It  even  happens  sometimes  that,  when 
seeking  for  authentic  proofs  of  an  alleged  fact,  he  finds  it 
reduced  to  nothing,  or  that  it  never  existed  except  in  the 
imagination  of  some  practical  joker  or  of  a  reporter  who 
was  short  of  news. 

The  result  of  all  this  is  that  these  facts  lose  their 
interest  for  all  except  the  simple-minded  who  love 
marvels  and  believe  that  these  things  are  marvellous,  and 
the  small  number  who  turn  them  to  profitable  account. 
Scientists  and  serious-minded  persons  grow  tired  of  finding 
at  every  step  facts  badly  observed  and  of  very  doubtful 
authority,  so  that  they  thrust  them  aside  with  disdain  and 
refuse  even  to  discuss  them. 

Others,  after  having  heard  the  accounts,  entirely  deny 
all   the   facts,    saying   that   there   is   no   truth  in  them, 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL       3 

because  they  cannot  be  explained  according  to  the  theories 
of  official  science,  and  no  demonstration,  according  to  the 
usual  methods  of  the  known  sciences,  can  be  obtained 
that  is  even  moderately  satisfactory. 

This  prejudiced  rejection  is  in  no  way  scientific.  There 
are  well-attested  facts,  absolutely  authentic,  but  which  we 
cannot  comprehend  and  which  we  do  not  know  how  to 
explain  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge.  Is  that  a 
reason  for  denying  them  ?  Experience  has  shown  us  that 
we  may  be  able  to  explain  to-morrow  that  which  to-day 
is  still  a  mystery.  Twenty-five  years  ago  science  knew 
nothing  of  hypnotism,  and  obstinately  refused  to  study 
it.  Many  denied  in  toto  all  these  phenomena,  of  which 
the  public  spoke  in  a  whisper,  and  when  sometimes  a  -'" 
fact  became  surrounded  with  undeniable  evidence,  they 
rejected  it  on  the  ground  of  trickery. 

We  ought  only  to  regard  as  scientifically  impossible 
that  which  is  absurd,  that  is  to  say,  contrary  to  mathe- 
matical or  geometrical  truths,  the  only  ones  which  are 
immutable..  Even  opposition  to  a  physical  law  should  not 
suffice  to  make  us  deny  a  fact.  Physical  laws  may  be 
momentarily  suspended  or  have  their  effect  destroyed  by 
other  laws ;  whether  we  know  those  other  laws  or  whether 
we  do  not. '  In  the  first  case,  we  are  able,  up  to  a  certain 
point,  to  explain  the  fact,  that  is  to  say,  to  connect  it 
with  a  law  and  anticipate  the  circumstances  under  which 
it  will  be  produced.  In  the  second  case  we  observe  the 
phenomenon  and  its  varying  conditions,  sometimes  with- 
out being  able  to  appreciate  its  importance,  and,  in  any 
case,  without  being  able  to  explain  it. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  phenomena  which  present  an 
apparent  opposition  to  a  physical  law  do  not  thereby 
destroy  the  law  in  itself.  We  only  need  to  recognise  that 
the  fact  in  question  does  not  come  under  the  operation 
of  this  law,  but  that  it  is  ruled  by  another  law  of  superior 
power,  both  laws  remaining  true  on  the  whole  and  under 
the  normal  conditions  of  their  application. 

Let  us  take  an  example:  the  law  of  gravitation,  by 
virtue  of  which  all  bodies,  when  left  to  themselves,  fall 


4  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

or  travel  towards  the  centre  of  the  earth,  is  indisputable. 
And  yet,  we  may  see  any  day  a  balloon,  left  to  itself,  rise 
in  the  air,  away  from  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Is  not 
this  an  apparent  contradiction  ?  The  balloon  is  subject  to 
a  double  law  :  first,  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  which  tends 
to  make  it  fall  to  the  ground ;  but,  secondly,  to  the  law 
of  Archimedes,  which,  by  causing  it  to  lose  an  amount  of 
its  weight  equal  to  that  of  the  volume  of  air  which  it 
displaces,  impels  it  to  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Two  forces  are  thus  in  opposition,  the  greater  of 
which  preponderates  over  the  less. 

The  same  law  of  gravitation  would  cause  a  piece  of 
steel  to  fall  to  the  ground :  if,  however,  it  is  suitably 
placed  beneath  a  magnet,  it  can  be  made  to  remain  sus- 
pended in  the  air.  Has  the  law  of  gravitation  been 
destroyed  thereby,  or  are  we  warranted  in  denying  the 
reality  of  the  phenomenon  ?     Obviously,  no. 

What  is  here  said  of  physical  laws  is  equally  true  of 
physiological  laAvs :  we  must  therefore  deny  only  what  is 
absurd. 

This  is  not  a  reason  for  accepting  too  readily,  as  real, 
phenomena  which  depart  from  known  laws ;  on  the  con- 
trary, we  must  proceed  with  great  circumspection  and  re- 
quire indisputable  proofs  as  to  their  authenticity.  When 
the  facts  are  fully  verified,  they  must  be  classed  by  ana- 
logy and  grouped  together  in  as  large  numbers  as  possible ; 
then  examined  to  see  if  they  can  be  compared  with  other 
similar  analogous  facts  which  are  better  understood. 

The  study  of  psychical  phenomena  seems  to  us  to 
present  all  the  greater  interest,  because,  up  to  the  present, 
with  the  exception  of  a  very  small  number,  they  have 
not  been  subjected  to  sufficiently  serious  observation  and 
truly  scientific  analysis. 

Serious-minded  persons,  and,  particularly,  men  of 
science,  have  taken  far  too  little  interest,  up  to  now,  in 
these  phenomena.  The  scientific  attitude,  in  regard  to 
facts  of  this  character,  can  only  be  cither  to  study  them 
conscientiously  or  to  preserve  an  open  mind  in  regard  to 
them. 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA  IN   GENERAL       5 

If  a  man  should  say  :  "  I  only  occupy  myself  with 
astronomy  or  botany,  I  have  not  the  time  to  study 
psychical  phenomena,  I  do  not  know  anything  about 
them  and  cannot  adjudicate  upon  them " ;  there  is 
nothing  to  be  said  against  this :  such  an  attitude  is 
serious  and  correct — it  does  not  depart  from  the  scientific 
spirit. 

But  it  must  be  recognised  that  the  language  of  the 
majority  of  men,  and  even  of  scientists,  is  quite  different 
from  this.  They  despise  psychical  phenomena,  not 
because  they  cannot  study  them,  but  because  they  do 
not  believe  in  their  existence,  and  declare  them  impos- 
sible, without  having  studied  or  even  seriously  examined 
them. 

Now  this  negation,  a  priori,  is  altogether  contrary  to 
the  scientific  spirit.  It  is  just  as  unreasonable  as  would 
be  the  complete  acceptance,  without  verification  or 
examination,  of  facts  which  had  not  been  proved. 

The  methodical  study  of  these  phenomena  is,  on  the 
contrary,  forced  upon  scientists,  because  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  ignore  them,  and,  to  be  in  a  position  to  judge 
them,  they  must  submit  them  to  a  rigorous  investigation 
and  analyse  them  with  scientific  method. 

The  verification  of  psychical  phenomena  is  extremely 
difficult,  but  it  is  not  impossible.  A  number  of  serious 
spiritists,  and  even  men  of  science  of  the  first  rank,  are 
already  engaged  in  collecting  and  studying  them. 

It  was  in  England,  first  of  all,  that  the  study  of  these 
phenomena,  known  by  the  name  of  psychical,  commenced. 
In  1867,  the  Dialectical  Society  of  London  formed  a  com- 
mittee of  thirty-three  members  to  study  and  experi- 
ment on  them.  Later,  from  1871  to  1874,  Sir  William 
Crookes  made  a  number  of  laboratory  experiments,  which 
he  subjected  to  a  rigorous  scientific  control  by  means  of 
registering  apparatus. 

Later  still,  there  was  founded  in  London  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  among  whose  members  are  a 
number  of  very  distinguished  persons. 

Finally,  in  France,  Dr.  Dariex  founded  the  Annales 


6  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

des  Sciences  Psychiques,  intended  to  record  observations 
and  experiments  which  offered  serious  and  scientific 
guarantees  of  authenticity. 

Shortly  afterwards  La  SocUte  Universelle  d'^^tudes 
Psychiques  was  founded  in  France,  which,  under  the 
patronage  and  with  the  collaboration  of  savants  of  the 
highest  repute  and  world-wide  standing,  established  a 
union  between  all  the  scientific  groups  which  devoted 
themselves  to  observation  and  experiment  as  to  these 
phenomena,  in  order  to  centralise  the  results  of  all  their 
labours,  and  thus  to  be  able  to  compare  and  class  them 
methodically. 

Professor  Charles  Richet,  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Medicine  and  Honorary  President  of  the  Soci4U  Uni- 
verselle d'Mudes  Psychiques,  has  exactly  expressed  what 
ought  to  be  thought  of  these  studies  by  every  man  of 
science,  in  the  following  lines,  Avhich  are  taken  from  an 
important  article  published  in  The  Annals  of  Psychical 
Science : — 

"  Undoubtedly  the  experimental  sciences  of  physics, 
chemistry,  and  physiology,  are  quite  as  positive  as  mathe- 
matics; but  there  is  this  difference  between  them,  that 
they  do  not  involve  a  negation.  They  furnish  us  with 
facts;  but  they  can  never  prove  that  another  fact  non- 
contradictory  is  impossible. 

"  For  instance,  oxygen  combines  with  hydrogen  to  form 
water.  This  is  a  fact  which  no  other  fact  can  upset ;  but  it 
is  quite  admissible  that  oxygen,  which  seems  at  present  to 
be  a  simple  body,  may  some  day  be  resolved  into  other 
simple  bodies.  It  is  very  possible,  it  is  even  probable, 
that  our  theories  concerning  the  exact  nature  of  the 
chemical  phenomenon  of  combination  will  be  completely 
overthrown.  But  that  will  not  matter  at  all.  It  will  not 
be  less  absolutely  true  that,  under  present  conditions,  the 
gas  which  we  call  oxygen  when  combined  with  a  different 
gas,  the  gas  we  call  hydrogen,  produces  a  liquid  body, 
which  is  water. 

"  But  in  the  proposition  I  have  just  put  forth  there 
is  a  phrase  which  is  fundamental.      Under  present  con- 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL       7 

ditions  oxygen  combines  with  hydrogen ;  but  conditions 
might  exist  in  which  the  combination  would  be  no  longer 
possible. 

"  For  instance,  let  us  suppose  that  there  is  an  ex- 
trem-ely  feeble  pressure,  other  gases  massed  together,  a 
very  low  temperature — it  is  quite  conceivable  in  these 
circumstances  that  a  combination  between  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  would  become  impossible.  So  that  it  would 
be  inexcusable  for  a  chemist  to  refuse  to  examine  experi- 
ments in  which  it  might  be  alleged  that,  in  certain 
conditions,  it  would  be  impossible  for  oxygen  to  combine 
with  hydrogen. 

"  Hence  when  we  say  that  oxygen  combines  with 
hydrogen,  we  are  not  proving  the  negative  side  of  the 
question,  for  under  changed  conditions  it  might  happen 
that  the  combination  could  not  be  effected.  The  important 
point  would  be  to  discover  these  new  conditions,  which 
differ  from  the  conditions  already  known,  already  described 
and  determined.  An  unknown  force  may  always  modify 
a  phenomenon,  so  that  the  negation  of  an  experimental 
possibility  would  lead  to  the  following  absurd  conse- 
quence :  No  force,  known  or  unknown,  can  suspend  or 
accelerate  the  combination  of  oxygen  with  hydrogen. 

"Let  us  take  another  example.  It  has  been  pro- 
fessed, and  is  still  professed,  that  bodies  which  are  not  the 
seat  of  any  chemical  change  do  not  produce  heat.  This 
appears  to  be  a  universally  classical,  absolute,  and  positive 
law,  one  of  the  immovable  bases  of  general  physics.  Now, 
the  discovery  of  radium  has  destroyed  the  absolute 
generality  of  the  fact,  since  radium,  without  any  appre- 
ciable chemical  change,  emits  perpetually  considerable 
quantities  of  heat. 

"  This  phenomenon  does  not  contradict  antecedent 
experiments.  It  is  a  new  phenomenon,  that  is  all.  And 
the  scientist  who  refuses  to  examine  facts  because  they 
are  new,  because  they  present  an  appearance  of  contra- 
diction to  classical  facts,  would  be  rather  a  poor  specimen 
of  a  man. 

"  Nevertheless,  when,  a  priori,  Spiritism  is  attacked. 


8  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

it  is,  in  reality,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  of  its  new- 
ness. yThere  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  the  facts  of  Spiritism 
which  formally  contradicts  data  established  by  science.} 

"  Let  us  select  for  consideration  the  most  extraordinary 
among  the  innumerable  facts  alleged  by  spiritists ;  for 
example,  an  apparition,  the  materialisation  of  a  being.  A 
classical  illustration  of  this  is  that  of  Katie  King,  observed 
by  Sir  William  Crookes. 

"  Certainly,  this  is  a  strange  phenomenon,  extraordi- 
nary and  improbable.  It  is  difficult  to  find  language 
which  adequately  expresses  the  astounding  character  of 
this  phenomenon :  the  apparition  of  a  phantom,  a  being 
who  has  weight,  circulation,  intelligence  and  will;  the 
lYiediiiin  being  present  at  the  same  time  as  this  new 
being; — the  medunn  preserving  her  weight,  circulation, 
intelligence  and  will.  But,  unheard  of  as  may  be  the 
existence  of  this  phantom,  it  is  not  absurd ;  it  does  not 
contradict  established  science.  Can  any  one  adduce  an 
experiment  which  proves  that  a  human  form  cannot 
appear  ? 

"  It  is  the  same  with  ra^ys  or  intelligible  knockings  on 
inert  objects;  with  thought-transference  or  lucidity;  and 
with  movements  of  objects  at  a  distance.  The  negation 
of  these  facts  has  not  been  made  by  science,  and,  indeed, 
it  cannot  be  made. 

"  I  absolutely  refuse  to  admit  the  validity  of  that 
I  simplifying  argument :  '  It  is  impossible,  because  common- 
'  sense  tells  us  it  is  impossible.'  Why  impossible  ?  Who 
has  fixed  the  limit  of  what  is  possible  and  what  is  not 
p  possible  ?  Let  this  consideration  be  carefully  weighed ; 
"  all  the  conquests  of  science  and  of  industry  were  formerly 
looked  upon  as  impossibilities. 

"  We  live  indeed  under  the  illusion  of  time :  those 
idola  temporis  against  which  Bacon  protested.  We  are  so 
made  that  the  future  seems  to  us  as  thouyh  it  ougfht 
to  resemble  the  present ;  and  this  is  a  psychological  law 
governing  our  mentality.  The  navigator  who  is  under 
shelter  in  some  little  haven  protected  against  the  waves 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL       9 

and  winds,  finds  it  difficult  to  realise,  in  spite  of  experi- 
ence, that  beyond  the  headland  which  closes  in  the  bay, 
the  sea  is  let  loose  and  tossed  about  by  the  wmd  in  its 
fury.  In  the  same  way,  we  men  of  1904,  we  cannot 
persuade  ourselves  that  in  2004,  and,  more  certainly,  in 
3004— a  future  which  defies  the  anticipations  of  our  most 
audacious  speculations — the  scientific  data  will  be  ab- 
solutely different  from  those  of  the  present.  We  have  not 
the  courage  to  tell  ourselves  that  not  a  particle  will  remain 
standing  of  those  theories  which  we  look  upon  to-day 
as  conclusive.  Nevertheless  the  demolition  of  all  our 
scientific  scaffolding,  so  laboriously  constructed,  is  not  a 
probability  :  it  is  a  certainty. 

"  The  history  of  the  past  makes  me  very  confident 
concerning  the  marvels  of  the  future.  The  immense 
future  lies  before  us.  It  is  possible  that  some  day  science 
may  pause ;  that,  after  the  prodigious  and  rapid  extension 
which  we  are  now  witnessing  w^ith  too  little  astonishment, 
she  may  pause  in  her  conquests.  But  that  moment  has 
not  yet  arrived ;  for,  in  spite  of  her  triumphant  appear- 
ance, our  science  is,  after  all,  but  the  study  of  phenomena, 
and  she  has  not  yet  got  to  the  root  of  things. 

"  We  need  not  go  any  further  than  this,  namely,  that 
in  certain  conditions,  certain  phenomena  are  produced. 
Hence  come  what  we  call  laws :  in  reality,  laws  are  only 
facts  generalised.  Let  a  magnet  be  turned  rapidly  round 
an  electric  wire  and  currents  will  be  produced  which  will 
cause  the  production  of  sparks  between  the  two  extremi- 
ties of  the  wire.  We  know  this  much ;  and  we  have  been 
able  to  determine  some  of  the  effects  of  these  currents, 
the  best  conditions  to  produce  them,  the  relation  between 
speed  and  rotation,  the  diameter  of  the  wires,  the  number 
of  revolutions,  &c.  &c.  But  have  we  gained  a  more  inti- 
mate comprehension  of  the  nature  of  the  phenomenon  itself 
because  we  have  been  able  to  determine  the  conditions 
under  which  that  phenomenon  is  produced  ?  It  is  as  if 
we  were  to  suppose  that  we  have  adequately  understood 
the  laws  of  the  development  of  living  beings,  because  we 


10  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

know  empirically  that  the  egg  of  a  fecundated  hen  kept 
in  an  incubator  for  forty  days  produces  a  chicken. 

"  We  behold  facts  and  their  results ;  we  are  able  to 
determine  their  conditions ;  this  is  well,  but  it  is  only  a 
first  step  towards  the  knowledge  of  things  themselves ; 
for,  if  we  desire  to  go  further  and  understand  —  i.e. 
understand  the  raison  d'etre,  the  efficient  cause,  the 
intimate  mechanism,  a  fortiori  the  primary  cause — we 
must  own  that  of  these  we  know  nothing. 

"  Even  scientists,  who,  rising  above  appearances,  look 
upon  all  the  phenomena  of  this  material  world  as  vibrations 
of  one  and  the  same  force,  vibrations  differing  in  form  and 
speed,  capable  of  becoming  at  one  time  light,  at  another 
heat,  attraction,  electricity,  even  these  have  not  advanced 
much  further  towards  the  solution  of  great  problems,  for 
a  vibration  is  still  only  a  phenomenon.  Vibrations  in  the 
ether  produce  light,  but  why?  Why  should  the  combina- 
tion of  carbon  with  oxygen  produce  an  undulatory  vibration 
in  the  ether  which  is  luminous  ?  It  is  impossible  to  name 
any  phenomenon  whatsoever — however  well  it  may  be  de- 
scribed as  to  its  form — which  is  accessible  as  to  its  cause ; 
and  it  will  continue  to  be  so,  if  not  always,  at  least  for  a 
long  time  to  come,  for  an  adequate  and  completely  satis- 
factory notion  of  anyone  phenomenon,  in  its  ultimate  causes, 
would  entail  the  satisfactory  notion  of  all  other  phenomena. 

"  The  universe  would  be  known  in  its  integrity,  if  a 
single  point  in  the  universe,  the  mirror  of  the  mighty  All, 
were  absolutely  and  completely  known. 

"  Therefore,  since  it  must  be  frankly  acknowledged 
that  we  only  witness  phenomena,  we  have  no  right  to 
make  our  fallacious  theories  a  reason  for  assigning  limits 
to  science.  Very  strange,  very  wonderful,  seemingly 
very  improbable  phenomena  may  yet  appear,  which, 
when  once  established,  will  not  astonish  us  more  than 
we  are  now  astonished  at  all  that  science  has  tausrht  us 
during  the  last  century.  It  is  assumed  that  the  pheno- 
mena which  we  now  accept  without  surprise,  do  not  excite 
our  astonishment  because  they  are  understood.  But  this 
is  not  the  case.    If  they  do  not  surprise  us,  it  is  not  because 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL     11 

they  are  understood,  it  is  because  they  are  familiar;  for 
if  that  which  is  not  understood  ought  to  surprise  us,  we 
should  be  surprised  at  everything — the  fall  of  a  stone 
thrown  into  the  air,  the  acorn  which  becomes  an  oak, 
mercury  which  expands  when  it  is  heated,  iron  attracted 
by  a  magnet,  phosphorus  which  burns  when  it  is  rubbed. 
These  are  all  so  many  mysteries,  which  too  often  we  pass 
by  without  pausing  to  consider,  for  a  mystery  which  is 
seen  daily  soon  ceases,  because  of  our  intellectual  triviality, 
to  appear  mysterious. 

"  There  is  then  nothing  unscientific  in  the  admission 
that  at  a  moment  of  intellectual  evolution  of  Humanity, 
other  forces  may  be  generated.  Why  should  they  not  be  ? 
One  or  other  alternative  is  true,  either  we  do  already  know 
all  the  forces  of  nature,  or  we  do  not  know  them  all.  There 
is  no  way  out  of  this  dilemma.  The  first  alternative,  that 
we  know  all  the  forces  of  nature,  is  so  absurd  that  the  mere 
mention  of  it  is  sufficient  to  show  how  foolish  it  is  :  it  is 
evident  that  our  feeble  intelligence,  endowed  with  five 
senses  of  limited  range,  does  not  penetrate  into  all  the 
forces  of  nature  (the  force  of  the  magnet,  for  instance). 
'^  Hence,  necessarily  and  undoubtedly,  there  are  forces  which 
escape  us.  Therefore,  the  future  may  reveal  these  to  us 
(not  all,  but  some  of  them). 

"It  is  certain,  indeed,  that  we  can  foresee  nothing 
concerning  that  vast  future ;  but  we  can  nevertheless 
assert  that  the  science  of  to-day  is  but  a  slight  matter, 
and  that  the  revolutions  and  evolutions  which  it  will 
experience  in  a  hundred  thousand  years  will  far  exceed 
the  most  daring  anticipations,  f  The  truths — those  sur- 
prising, amazing,  unforeseen  truths — which  our  descend- 
ants will  discover,  are  even  now  all  round  about  us, 
staring  us  in  the  eyes,  so  to  speak,  and  yet  we  do  not 
see  them.''^ 

"  But  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  we  do  not  see  them ; 
we  do  not  wish  to  see  them ;  for  as  soon  as  an  unexpected 
and  unfamiliar  fact  appears,  we  try  to  fit  it  into  the 
framework  of  the  commonplaces  of  acquired  knowledge, 


12  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

and   we   arc   indignant    that    any   one    should   dare    to 
experiment  further." 

It  is  strange  to  notice  that  men  of  the  most  sober 
minds  in  regard  to  all  other  matters  usually  approach 
the  study  of  psychical  phenomena  with  an  obvious 
prejudice  and  foregone  conclusion  which  tends  to  falsify 
their  judgment.  It  seems  that  when  they  study  these 
phenomena  their  object  is  not  to  obtain  enlighten- 
ment and  ascertain  the  truth,  but  to  combat  them  as 
though  they  had  an  interest  in  proving  that  they  do  not 
exist.  (They  rightly  call  for  the  opinion  of  scientific  men, 
but  should  a  scientist  of  universally  recognised  authority 
and  whose  testimony  they  themselves  have  appealed  to 
tell  them  that  he  has  assured  himself  of  the  reality  of 
psychical  phenomena,  he  seems,  ij^so  facto,  to  have  lost 
all  credit  in  their  eyes,  and  they  no  longer  put  faith 
in  his  wordT)  They  accept  the  observations  which  a  cele- 
brated astronomer  may  make  on  the  stars ;  but  if  he  says 
that  he  has  closely  observed  and  verified  some  of  these 
phenomena,  which,  I  do  not  know  for  what  reason,  are 
opposed  to  their  pro-conceived  ideas,  they  say  that  he  is 
the  victim  of  hallucination,  or  assert  that  he  has  been 
deceived. 

They  believe  in  experiments  made  in  a  laboratory  by 
a  physiologist  of  universally  recognised  scientific  attain- 
ments, and  admit,  just  as  though  they  had  themselves 
seen  it,  all  that  he  describes  under  the  field  of  his  micro- 
scope. But,  let  the  same  physiologist  tell  them  that  he 
has  seen  in  a  room  a  few  square  yards  in  extent,  pheno- 
mena which  they  have  not  seen  for  themselves,  and  they 
claim  that  he  has  been  duped  by  a  coachman  hidden  in 
the  room,  whom  he  was  not  able  to  discover  after  a  strin- 
gent examination.  In  fact,  if  similar  arguments  had  not 
really  been  brought  forward,  we  should  not  dare  seriously 
to  state  them,  so  greatly  do  they  exceed  the  limits  of 
common  sense. 

With  regard  to  those  who  wish  to  devote  themselves 
to  the  study  of  psychical  phenomena,  while  recognising 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA   IN   GENERAL     13 

the  necessity  of  submitting  these  phenomena  to  a  metho- 
dical and  strictly  scientific  investigation,  they  should 
take  into  consideration  that  each  science  has  its  peculiar 
method,  and  that  each  science  uses,  for  the  study  of  its 
own  phenomena,  different  instruments,  specially  adapted 
to  the  nature  of  the  phenomena  which  are  to  be  observed 
and  the  conditions  in  which  they  present  themselves. 
Would  it  not  be  absurd  to  observe  the  stars  with  a 
microscope  and  examine  microbes  with  a  telescope  ? 
What  should  we  say  of  one  who  tried  to  study  the  course 
of  the  stars  with  a  balance  and  the  method  of  successive 
weighings  ?  And  yet,  among  those  who  wish  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  study  of  these  psychical  phenomena, 
there  are  many  who  make  claims  which  are  not  less 
unreasonable  than  these. 

Psychical  phenomena  are  of  a  very  special  character, 
and  account  must  be  taken  of  this  character  in  any  serious 
and  profitable  study  of  them. 

The  first  work  ought  to  be  that  of  methodical  clas- 
sification, commencing  at  the  most  simple  and  rising 
progressively  to  the  most  complex,  comparing  together, 
as  far  as  possible,  those  which  seem  to  be  mutually 
dependent. 

We  shall  then  see  what  experimental  method  ought 
to  be  adopted.  Doubtless,  in  many  instances,  we  may  be 
able  to  make  use  of  processes  and  instruments  which  we 
have  employed  for  other  purposes;  photography  and 
weighing  machines  ought  certainly  to  render  some  ser- 
vice ;  but  it  is  very  probable  that  it  will  be  necessary 
to  design  new  instruments,  such  as  the  sthenometer, 
specially  adapted  to  the  nature  and  conditions  of  the 
new  phenomena  which  form  the  subject  of  research. 


'/<r 


t^^/ 

^ 


a 


CHAPTER  II 

EXTERNALISATION   OF    SENSIBILITY 

ExTERNALiSATiON  of  sensibility  is  a  phenomenon  which 
lies  on  the  confines  between  hypnotic  and  psychical 
phenomena. 

When  I  made  my  first  experiments  in  hypnotism  I 
observed,  on  several  occasions,  a  new  and  strange  pheno- 
menon which  impressed  me  all  the  more  because,  up  to 
then,  it  had  never  been  reported  by  any  of  the  authors 
who,  about  that  time,  were  commencing  the  scientific 
study  of  the  various  phenomena  of  hypnosis.  In  a  treatise 
on  Hypnology,  which  I  published  in  1892,  I  referred  to 
this  phenomenon  in  the  chapter  on  Hypnotic  Sleep  in  the 
following  words : — 

"I  ought  to  describe  here  a  phenomenon  which  has 
scarcely  been  noticed  by  writers.  This  phenomenon  may, 
however,  be  of  some  importance  in  the  practice  of  hypno- 
tism. It  is  exhibited  by  means  of  a  point,  preferably  of 
metal,  such  as  the  blade  of  a  pair  of  scissors  or  a  compass 
needle;  but  any  other  object,  slightly  sharpened,  such  as 
a  pencil,  a  piece  of  wood  or  whalebone  cut  to  a  point  give 
similar  results,  though  somewhat  less  defined. 

"  In  these  conditions  the  phenomenon  is  produced, 
even  in  a  waking  somnambulistic  condition,  in  certain 
subjects,  but  it  is  most  intense  in  hypnotic  sleep. 

"  If  we  hold  one  of  these  instruments  between  the 
fingers,  as  a  pen  is  held  for  writing,  and  direct  the  point 
between  the  eyes  of  the  person  who  is  being  experimented 
upon,  the  latter  perceives,  exactly  at  the  point  aimed  at 
by  the  instrument,  a  well-defined  sensation  of  tingling 
and  weight.  When  this  first  sensation  has  been  obtained, 
by  allowing  the  instrument  to  remain  motionless  for  a 


EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY        15 

few  seconds,  a  short  distance  from  the  skin,  we  may  keep 
it  always  at  the  same  distance,  and  move  it  slowly  in 
various  directions,  so  as  to  present  it  successively  to 
various  points  on  the  face,  and  even  of  the  body,  of  very 
sensitive  persons.  The  subject,  whose"  eyes  have  been 
closed  from  the  commencement  of  the  experiment,  will 
be  able  to  follow  exactly  the  course  travelled  by  the  point, 
and,  at  any  moment,  indicate  precisely  the  point  opposite 
to  which  the  instrument  has  stopped. 

"  The  distance  at  which  this  sensation  may  be  per- 
ceived, as  well  as  the  range  of  the  sensitive  surface,  varies 
with  the  nervous  sensibility  of  the  person  experimented 
upon,  and  it  is  a  good  means  of  quickly  ascertaining  to 
what  degree  a  person  may  be  hypnotised.  I  found  that 
the  sensitive  distance  varied  on  an  average  from  one  to 
ten  centimetres,  so  that  with  the  majority  of  easily  hypno- 
tisable  persons,  this  result  could  be  obtained  by  presenting 
the  point  at  a  distance  of  about  one  centimetre  from  the  skin. 

"I  found  that  this  special  sensibility  increases  along 
with  the  hypnotic  sensibility,  and,  like  that,  can  be 
developed  by  training." 

This  phenomenon,  which  I  designated,  at  that  time, 
by  the  name  of  sensibility  at  a  distance  has,  of  late  years, 
been  closely  studied  by  M,  de  Rochas  and  described  by 
him  under  the  name  of  Externalisation  of  Sensibility,  a 
much  better  description. 

"  As  soon  as  we  magnetise  a  subject,"  says  Colonel 
Albert  de  Rochas,  "  his  sensibility  disappears  at  the 
surface  of  the  skin.  This  is  an  old-established  fact,  but 
what  was  not  known  was  that  this  sensibility  is  exter- 
nalised ;  there  is  formed  around  the  body  of  the  subject, 
as  soon  as  this  state  of  rapport  commences,  a  sensitive 
layer,  a  few  centimetres  from  the  skin.  If  the  magnetiser, 
or  any  other  person,  pinches,  pricks,  or  strokes  the  sub- 
ject's skin,  he  feels  nothing ;  but,  if  the  magnetiser  per- 
forms the  same  operations  on  the  sensitive  layer,  the 
subject  experiences  corresponding  sensations.  Further, 
as  the  profundity  of  the  hypnosis  increases,  a  series  of 
similar  layers  is  formed,  almost  equidistant,  the  sensibility 


16  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

of  which  decreases  proportionately  to  their  distance  from 
the  body." 

To  sum  up,  as  we  have  seen,  this  phenomenon  of 
externahsation  of  sensibility  consists  in  this,  that  at  the 
same  time  that  ansesthesia  is  produced  by  the  hypnotic 
state,  the  sensibility,  which  has  disappeared  from  the 
surface  of  the  skin,  is  not  lost,  but  is  transferred  to  points 
exterior  to  the  subject. 

This  phenomenon  would  be  remarkable  enough,  as  we 
have  described  it,  but  it  is  rendered  even  more  striking 
and  much  more  extraordinary  by  the  more  precise  experi- 
ments we  are  about  to  relate.  In  these  experiments  the 
sensibility  of  the  subject  no  longer  remained  vaguely 
distributed  over  a  layer  of  air,  more  or  less  near  to  the 
skin  of  the  subject,  but  could  be  directed  at  will  and  fixed 
on  various  objects.  We  were  thus  enabled,  by  varying  the 
nature,  form,  and  position  of  these  objects,  or  by  moying 
them  further  from  the  subject,  to  produce  much  more 
conclusive  experiments  which  were  calculated  to  meet  all 
objections.  In  these,  we  find  that  a  well-defined  body, 
absolutely  distinct  and  independent  of  the  subject's  body, 
becomes  charged  Avith  its  sensibility,  in  such  a  w^ay 
that  the  subject  will  feel,  clearly  and  distinctly,  every- 
thing which  impresses  this  body,  exactly  as  though  these 
impressions  were  directly  received  upon  his  OAvn  body  in 
its  normal  condition. 

The  subject  who  volunteered  for  these  experiments  is 
very  easily  hypnotisable.  The  first  time  I  hypnotised 
him,  I  obtained  at  once  the  lethargic  state,  then,  by  the 
usual  process,  it  was  easy  for  me  to  make  him  pass  into 
the  cataleptic  condition,  and,  in  this  phase  of  hypnosis, 
I  obtained  fascination,  an  indication  of  very  great  sug- 
gestibility. From  catalepsy,  I  quickly  brought  him  back 
again  to  lethargy,  and  then  made  him  pass  into  somnam- 
bulism. My  subject  very  quickly  arrived  at  the  third 
degree  of  somnambulism,  in  which  state  he  was  insensible 
to  all  excitations  from  without ;  but  he  was  in  direct 
communication  with  me ;  he  heard  and  answered  me 
if  I  ordered  him  to  do  so.     He  was  essentially  sugges- 


EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY        17 

tionable  and  executed  unconsciously  and  involuntarily 
the  suggestions  I  made ;  he  even  carried  out  post- 
hypnotic suggestions;  in  a  word,  his  personality  dis- 
appeared completely :  finally,  he  became  amnesic  on 
awaking. 

Such  being  the  state  of  the  subject,  I  first  of  all  satis- 
fied myself  that  he  was  completely  insensible  by  sharply 
pricking  the  skin  at  various  parts  of  the  body  with  a  pin. 
I  ascertained  that  he  was  everywhere  in  a  state  of  com- 
plete anaesthesia.  I  then  placed  a  glass  filled  with  water 
between  his  hands,  whilst  a  person  standing  behind  him 
held  his  hands  closely  over  his  eyes.  I  then  pricked  the 
surface  of  the  water  in  the  glass  with  a  pin,  and  im- 
mediately the  subject,  by  the  expression  on  his  coun- 
tenance and  an  involuntary  movement,  showed  that  he 
experienced  pain.  I  then  asked  what  he  felt,  and  he 
replied:  "You  pricked  my  left  hand."  I  then  applied  the 
point  of  the  pin  to  the  outside  of  the  glass,  not  touching 
the  water :  the  subject  experienced  no  sensation.  I  again 
plunged  the  pin  into  the  water,  without  touching  the 
glass  in  any  way,  and  immediately  the  subject  repeated : 
"  You  have  pricked  my  left  hand."  The  experiment  was 
repeated  several  times  :  each  time  I  pricked  the  glass  he 
felt  nothing,  but,  when  I  pricked  the  water  it  contained, 
he  instantly  felt  the  pricking  and  finally  said,  with  some 
impatience  :  "  You  are  hurting  me ;  you  are  pricking  me." 

I  will  simply  remark,  with  regard  to  this  experiment, 
that  when  I  prick  the  glass  I  put  my  pin  very  forcibly 
against  the  outside,  the  subject  might  therefore  feel  a 
certain  pressure  on  his  hands,  a  sensation  of  contact ;  if 
there  had  been  auto-suggestion,  it  would  certainly  have 
shown  itself  at  that  moment,  and  yet  he  felt  nothing. 
When  I  pricked  the  surface  of  the  water,  on  the  contrary, 
I  was  careful  not  to  touch  the  glass  with  my  fingers ;  no 
mechanical  pressure  was  transmitted,  and  yet  he  then 
clearly  felt  the  pricking. 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  first  time  I  made  this  experi- 
ment with  this  subject,  I  informed  neither  the  subject  nor 
those  present  what  I  intended  doing,  and  for  a  very  good 


18  rSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

reason — because  I  did  not  know  myself.  The  idea  of 
attempting  the  externalisation  of  sensibility  only  came  to 
me  when  I  saw  the  subject  arrive  so  easily  at  the  highest 
degree  of  somnambulism,  and  I  put  my  idea  into  execution 
without  saying  anything. 

In  another  experiment,  after  having  placed  the  subject 
in  the  same  somnambulistic  state,  and  having,  at  first,  as 
before,  placed  between  his  hands  a  glass  of  water  in  which 
I  had  externalised  his  sensibility,  I  took  the  glass  and 
held  it  myself  a  short  distance  in  front  of  the  subject,  but 
without  any  contact  with  him  :  he  experienced  the  prick- 
ing in  the  same  way,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
impression  was  a  little  less  strong.  The  glass  of  water 
was  then  placed  on  a  table  in  front  of  the  subject  and 
the  results  were  the  same. 

At  this  same  sitting,  I  made  a  new  experiment. 
Instead  of  pricking  the  surface  of  the  water  with  a  pin, 
I  slowly  pressed  the  extremities  of  my  thumb  and  index- 
finger  into  the  water,  and  quickly  brought  them  together. 
The  subject,  as  before,  said  that  he  felt  pain,  but  with  this 
diiference,  that  when  interrogated  as  to  what  he  experi- 
enced, he  immediately  replied :  "  You  are  pinching  me " 
and  not  "  You  are  pricking  me,"  as  on  the  other  occasions. 

Several  times  over  I  pricked  and  pinched  the  Avater 
alternately;  it  did  not  once  happen  that  the  subject  was 
deceived.  He  said  :  "  You  are  pricking  me  "  each  time  I 
placed  the  pin  in  the  water,  and  "  You  are  pinching  me  " 
each  time  I  pinched  the  water  with  my  fingers. 

I  tried  charging  other  substances  than  water  with  the 
sensibility  of  the  subject.  First  I  took  a  small  glass  plate, 
which  I  covered  with  velvet.  As  before,  the  subject  was 
put  into  a  somnambulistic  and  anossthetic  condition,  and 
the  prepared  plate  was  placed  between  his  hands ;  he  ex- 
perienced just  as  clearly  the  prickings  made  in  the  velvet 
covering. 

Cardboard  did  not  give  very  appreciable  results.  At 
all  events,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  I  experi- 
mented, it  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  so  easily  charged 
with  the  sensibility  of  the  subject. 


EXTERNALISATION   OF  SENSIBILITY        19 

Wood  was  more  favourable  for  the  experiment.  Some 
small  boards,  placed  for  a  few  moments  in  contact  with 
the  subject's  body,  were  charged  with  his  sensibility 
in  such  a  manner  that,  after  they  were  removed  from 
him,  he  felt  the  prickings  which  were  made  in  the 
wood. 

I  also  experimented  with  a  ball  of  putty,  to  which 
I  had  vaguely  given  the  contour  of  the  subject,  at  the 
same  time  fixing  it  on  a  glass  plate.  I  sensitised  the 
putty  by  bringing  it  near  the  subject's  body,  and  made 
him  hold  the  glass  plate  between  his  hands.  After  a 
few  moments,  on  my  holding  the  glass  plate  myself  a 
short  distance  from  the  subject,  he  felt,  sometimes  in 
his  head,  sometimes  in  his  body,  sometimes  in  his  limbs, 
prickings  which  were  made  in  the  portions  of  the  putty 
representing  the  different  parts  of  his  body.  Then,  on 
my  cutting  off  some  of  the  subject's  hairs  while  he  was 
asleep,  and  putting  them  in  the  part  of  the  putty  repre- 
senting his  head,  he  strongly  protested  when  they  were 
pulled,  saying  that  his  hair  was  being  pulled  out. 

In  order  to  take  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  sensation  came  to  the  subject,  and  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  it  was  perceived,  I  instituted  the  following 
experiment. 

The  subject  was  placed  in  a  state  of  somnambulism, 
the  glass  of  water  put  between  his  hands  and  charged 
with  his  sensibility,  as  in  the  first  experiments.  I  then 
noticed  that  he  instantly  felt  the  pricking  sensation  when 
I  plunged  the  pin  in  the  water.  One  of  my  assistants 
in  these  experiments,  M.  Leuliette,  kept  his  eyes  fixed 
attentively  on  a  chronometer,  whilst  the  two  other 
assistants  signalled  to  him  the  precise  moment  when  I 
pricked  the  surface  of  the  water  with  the  pin,  and  Avhen 
the  subject's  face  showed  an  expression  of  pain.  There 
was  no  appreciable  lapse  of  time  between  the  two  actions. 
I  then  gave  the  glass  of  water  to  an  assistant,  who  held 
it  in  his  left  hand,  and  held  the  subject's  left  hand  in 
his  right.  It  was  found  that  a  fraction  of  a  second 
elapsed  between  the  time  when  I  pricked  the  surface  of 


20  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  water  with  a  pin,  and  the  moment  when  the  subject's 
face  showed  pain.  On  making  a  chain  of  two  and  then 
of  three  persons,  holding  each  other's  hands  between  the 
glass  of  water  and  the  subject,  I  noticed  an  increasing 
slowness  of  the  sensation.  On  employing  five  persons 
I  obtained  a  delay  of  nearly  two  seconds  between  the 
moment  when  the  pin  touched  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  that  when  the  expression  on  the  subject's  face  showed 
that  he  felt  the  sensation. 

I  now  come  to  an  experiment  even  more  curious  than 
those  which  I  have  narrated.  The  subject,  being  put  to 
sleep,  and  brought,  as  usual,  into  a  somnambulistic  con- 
dition so  that  the  whole  of  the  cutaneous  surface  was 
completely  insensible,  I  placed  before  him  another  person, 
awake  and  in  a  normal  condition,  who  took  hold  of  the 
subject's  hands  in  such  a  way  that  his  right  hand  held 
the  subject's  left,  and  his  left  the  subject's  right.  Matters 
having  been  thus  arranged,  I  caused,  by  suggestion,  the 
sensibility  of  the  subject  to  pass  into  the  person  in  front 
of  him  ;  that  is  to  say,  I  suggested  to  the  subject  that 
he  should  no  longer  feel  anything  himself,  but  that  he 
should  feel  everything  that  was  done  to  the  person  in  front. 

I  then  pricked  with  a  pin  the  right  leg  of  the  person 
who  was  awake ;  the  subject  immediately  said  to  me : 
"  You  are  pricking  my  left  leg."  It  was,  in  point  of  fact, 
the  leg  which  was  opposite  to  the  subject's  left  leg.  I 
pricked  the  waking  person  in  the  left  arm,  and  the  sleep- 
ing subject  said:  "You  are  pricking  my  right  arm."  I 
pricked  the  waking  person  on  the  ear,  and  the  subject 
said :  "  You  are  pricking  mc  on  the  head."  I  then  ob- 
served that  under  the  influence  of  the  pricking  the  waking 
person  made  an  involuntary  movement  which  the  sub- 
ject asleep  felt  through  the  contact  of  hands — a  muscular 
movement  which  informed  him  of  the  moment  when 
the  pricking  was  made.  Admitting  this  hypothesis  for 
a  moment,  how  does  it  explain  the  fact  that  the  sub- 
ject distinguished  between  the  pricking  made  on  the 
right  arm  or  the  left  leg,  and  that  made  on  the  right  leg 
or  the  left  arm,  or  on  the  head  ? 


EXTERNALISATION   OF  SENSIBILITY        21 

But  there  is  a  much  more  simple  method  of  nullifying 
the  objection  that  might  be  deduced  from  the  unconscious 
movements  of  the  waking  person  being  communicated  to 
the  person  asleep,  that  is,  by  cutting  off  all  communication 
between  the  two  subjects.  That  is  what  I  did  in  the  fol- 
lowing experiments.  After  having  caused  the  sensibility 
of  the  subject  in  the  somnambulistic  state  to  pass  to  the 
waking  subject,  the  hands  of  the  sleeper  were  released. 
The  two  subjects  were  thus  completely  separated ;  there 
was  no  material  contact  between  them.  I  then  pricked 
the  limbs  of  the  waking  person  and  the  subject  felt  the 
prickings  in  his  corresponding  limbs,  that  is  to  say,  the 
limbs  opposite  to  his  own,  the  right  side  con-esponding 
with  the  left  side,  as  well  as  prickings  in  the  head.  If 
I  pinched  a  limb  instead  of  pricking  it,  the  subject  quickly 
recognised  the  difference,  saying :  "  You  are  pinching  me," 
instead  of  "  You  are  pricking  me,"  as  he  had  done  on  the 
other  occasions. 

I  will  mention  in  the  last  place  an  experiment  which 
was  also  very  interesting.  After  bringing  my  subject  into 
a  somnambulistic  condition,  I  placed  him  before  a  wall 
and  so  arranged  the  lights  that  his  shadow  was  projected 
directly  on  to  it.  I  suggested  to  him  that  his  sensibility 
should  be  entirely  transferred  to  his  shadow,  that  is,  that 
he  himself  would  feel  everything  that  was  done  to  the 
form  projected  on  the  wall.  I  then  pricked  the  wall  at 
different  points  around  the  shadow.  He  did  not  move 
and  experienced  no  sensation.  I  then  pricked  the  shadow 
itself;  the  subject  immediately  made  an  abrupt  move- 
ment and  complained  strongly.  I  commenced  again  at 
various  points  outside  the  shadow :  the  subject  felt  ab- 
solutely nothing  ;  but,  whenever  the  shadow  was  touched, 
the  sensation  seemed  to  be  more  acute  than  in  the  majority 
of  the  other  experiments.  The  subject  complained  of  his 
head  when  I  pricked  the  head  of  the  shadow,  and  felt  pain 
in  the  arm  or  leg  when  I  pricked  the  shadow  on  the  wall ; 
and  when,  at  one  time,  I  passed  my  hand  over  the  wall 
where  the  shadow's  head  was,  he  said  :  "  You  are  scratch- 
ing me." 


^2  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

The  experiments  which  I  have  just  rehited  suggest 
some  interesting  considerations.  In  the  first  place,  the 
externaUsation  of  sensibility  to  the  degree  which  I  have 
described  is  a_very_xaxe— phenomenon,  whether  it  be 
because  it  is  only  witnessed  in  a  hypnotic  state  which 
few  subjects  are  capable  of  reaching,  or,  more  especially, 
because  it  constitutes  one  of  those  special  faculties  still 
very  little  known,  which  are  more  or  less  developed  in 
certain  subjects,  but  which  only  attain  a  very  high  degree 
in  a  small  number  of  cases.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  pre- 
ferring this  latter  hypothesis;  in  fact,  the  subjects  I 
observed  presented  this  phenomenon  in  the  third  and 
even  the  second  degree  of  somnambulism.  Now,  these 
hypnotic  phenomena,  without  being  frequent,  are  met 
with  from  time  to  time,  though  this  was  the  first  time  I 
had  met  with  this  externaUsation  of  sensibility  during 
the  many  years  I  had  devoted  myself  to  research. 

I  ought  to  remark,  in  the  second,  place,^  that  these 
phenomena  are  not  always  presented  with  the  same 
intensity.  ^achnTme^TliaTe"^  operated  with  this'^suhject, 
I  have  always  obtained  the  externalisation  of  sensibility, 
but  sometimes  his  sensations  were  vague  and  lacked  dis- 
tinctness, whether  because  he  was  not  in  so  good  a  con- 
dition before  the  hypnosis  and  sleep  was  not  so  well 
developed,  or  because  some  external  circumstances  might 
have  interfered  with  the  experiments.  Thus,  in  certain 
cases  of  pricking,  he  clearly  experienced  a  pain,  but  was 
not  able  to  define  its  nature.  He  said  :  "  You  are  hurting 
me,"  but  he  could  not  distinguish  Avhether  he  was  being 
pricked  or  pinched. 

In  other  cases,  he  could  easily  distinguish  the  kind  of 
sensation  and  the  nature  of  the  pain,  but  could  not  locate 
it  in  the  region  corresponding  with  the  part  touched  on 
the  object  or  person.  Thus,  in  one  of  the  experimental 
seances,  the  sensation,  which  Avas  none  the  less  very  clear, 
was  constantly  felt  on  the  left  hand.  In  other  experi- 
ments, the  subject  felt  the  prickings  and  the  impressions 
made  on  the  object  charged  with  his  sensibility,  always 
in  the  head.      In  other  circumstances  he  succeeded  in 


EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY        23 

locating  the  sensations  to  a  certain  extent,  but  still  some- 
what imperfectly.  Thus,  he  ascribed  to  the  head  all  that 
was  done  to  the  head  and  the  upper  part  of  the  body  of 
the  other  subject,  and  to  the  body  all  that  was  done  to  his 
trunk  and  limbs.  I  have  also  noticed  that,  in  certain 
cases  when  the  sensations  were  vague  and  not  well  located, 
if  I  awakened  the  subject  and  hypnotised  him  again,  I 
obtained  very  clear  sensations  with  very  remarkable  pre- 
cision of  localisation. 

In  certain  cases,  on  asserting  to  the  subject  by  sugges- 
tion, that  his  sensibility  had  left  him  and  had  been 
transferred  to  an  object  or  person,  we  secured  very  clear 
phenomena.  It  is,  of  course,  to  be  understood  that  this 
suggestion  was  only  made  before  commencing  the  experi- 
ments, and  we  were  careful  that  at  the  time  of  carrying 
out  the  experiments  the  subject  should  not  be  forewarned 
as  to  the  various  movements  effected. 

How  then  can  we  explain  these  phenomena  of  exter- 
nalisation  of  sensibility  ?  I  will  say  at  once  that  I  have 
witnessed  the  phenomenon,  and  have  had  it  confirmed  by 
several  witnesses ;  but  I  have  not,  up  to  now,  found  any 
satisfactory  explanation.  I  only  wish  to  reply  here  to 
certain  objections  or  interpretations  which  some  might  be 
tempted  to  give,  and  which  must  be  rejected. 

First  of  all,  I  think  it  is  useless  to  discuss  that  of 
fraud ;  those  who  have  witnessed  my  experiments,  and 
the  conditions  in  which  they  were  carried  out,  can  have 
no  doubt  as  to  this. 

The  unconscious  connivance  of  the  subject  is  a  more  / 
serious  objection.  We  know  that  subjects  in  somnam- 
bulism possess  an  extreme  keenness  of  all  the  senses  ;  the 
subject  might  see  through  the  eyelids  ;  he  might  be  aware, 
through  the  sense  of  hearing,  of  all  that  is  taking  place 
and  react  unconsciously  or  be  influenced  by  auto-sugges- 
tion. The  objection  of  unconscious  connivance,  and  that 
of  auto-suggestion  on  the  subject's  part  may  be  treated  as 
one,  and  the  arguments  which  I  will  give  reply  equally  to 
both. 

1.  I  will  recall  that  in  the  first  experiment  I  made 


24  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  subject  could  not  know  what  I  was  going  to  do, 
because  I  did  not  know  myself.  I  had  no  idea  of  attempt- 
ing externalisation  of  sensibility  with  him  until  after  he 
was  in  a  somnambulistic  condition. 

2.  When  the  glass  of  water  was  no  longer  between  his 
hands,  but  was  placed  behind  him,  he  felt  the  pricking 
and  yet  he  could  see  nothing.  Nor  could  he  hear  any- 
thing because  the  act  of  plunging  the  pin  into  the  water 
did  not  make  more  noise  than  any  other  movement,  which 
had  no  effect  upon  him. 

3.  When  the  subject  held  the  glass  of  water  between 
his  hands,  if  I  pricked  the  glass  itself,  he  certainly  experi- 
enced a  sensation  of  contact.  If  there  had  been  auto- 
suggestion, it  is  then  that  it  would  have  been  developed. 
But  nothing  of  the  sort  took  place,  he  felt  nothing ;  but, 
if  I  pricked  the  water  without  touching  the  glass,  that  is 
to  say,  AvithoU't  his  experiencing  the  slightest  direct  sensa- 
tion, he  gave  evidence  that  he  felt  the  pricking. 

I  shall  not  dwell  at  length  upon  the  objection  made 
a  little  while  ago  before  the  Society  of  Hypnology  by 
M.  Mavroukakis.  Our  colleague  showed  to  the  Society  a 
hypnotised  person,  holding  a  glass  of  water  between  his 
hands,  and,  while  pricking  the  glass  of  water,  he  said  to 
him :  "  I  am  pricking  your  head,  your  arm,  or  your  leg." 
The  subject  evidently  experienced  all  the  sensations  which 
were  thus  suggested  to  him.  No  one  who  had  ever  wit- 
nessed experiments  in  externalisation  of  sensibility  could 
have  thought  that  these  proceedings  resembled  them. 
No  one  has  ever  denied  that  it  is  possible  to  suggest  to 
a  hypnotised  subject  a  pricking,  burning,  or  any  other 
sensation,  at  any  particular  point.  Here,  the  glass  of 
water  added  nothing,  and  this  experiment  only  demon- 
strated verbal  suggestion,  which  is  known  to  every  one. 

In  externalisation  of  sensibility,  on  the  contrary,  we 
take  all  the  necessary  precautions  that  the  subject  shall 
have  no  foroknowlcdgc  in  any  way  of  the  time  or  manner 
of  pricking  the  object  charged  Avith  his  sensibility. 
We  are  careful  to  perform  similar  manipulations  on  sur- 
rounding objects,  or  on  objects  similar  to  those  to  which 


EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY        25 

we  have  transferred  his  sensibility.  This  was  demon- 
strated in  our  experiments  with  the  glass,  where  the  glass 
only  was  pricked;  and  yet  the  subject,  ivithout  foreknow- 
ledge, clearly  showed  that  he  experienced  impressions 
made  on  the  object  charged  with  his  sensibility  and  that 
he  did  not  experience  them  when  made  around  or  on  other 
objects. 

Another  explanation  seemed  to  me  for  some  time  to 
be  more  plausible,  and  yet  I  have  had  to  abandon  it 
because  of  certain  experiments  I  made.  This  explana- 
tion consisted  in  supposing  that  the  operator,  who  prac- 
tised the  pricking  on  the  sensitised  object,  unconsciously 
made  a  mental  suggestion,  which  was  received  and  under- 
stood by  the  hypnotised  subject.  This  hypothesis  would 
account  for  the  fact  that  the  subject  experienced  and 
distinguished  the  different  kinds  of  sensations — prickings, 
burnings,  pinchmgs,  &c.,  and  that  he  localised  them  in 
various  parts  of  his  body  when  these  sensations  were 
experienced  by  another  subject  placed  in  front  of  him; 
and,  even  in  this  case,  the  mental  suggestion  might  just 
as  well  come  from  the  subject  operated  upon  as  from  the 
operator. 

This  hypothesis  was  shown  to  be  inadequate  when  I 
witnessed  in  certain  specified  cases  a  regular  and  pro- 
gressive retardation  of  the  sensation  in  the  hypnotised 
subject.  Whether  the  glass  of  water  was  held  by  the 
subject  himself,  or  by  one  of  three,  four,  or  five  persons  in 
communication  with  the  subject,  the  sensation  ought  to 
be  equally  rapidly  perceived  by  him  if  the  hypothesis  of 
mental  suggestion  is  true :  it  should  be  instantaneous  in 
each  case,  and  there  should  not  be  the  regular  retardation 
which  we  witnessed  in  certain  circumstances. 

By  another  experiment  I  tried  to  eliminate  all  possi- 
bility of  thought  transference. 

In  an  adjoining  room  I  had  prepared  tAvo  bottles, 
filled  with  warm  and  cold  Avater  respectively.  A  piece  of 
string  was  attached  to  each  of  these  bottles,  so  that  the 
experimenter  could  lift  and  hold  them,  without  knowing 
which  contained  the  warm  and  which  the  cold  water. 


26  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  two  bottles  thus  prepared  were  brought  in  a  box, 
and  no  one  about  the  subject  knew  which  was  warm 
and  which  cold. 

I  then  took  each  of  the  bottles  in  turn  by  the  string, 
not  knowing  their  temperature,  and  brought  them  within 
about  a  foot  of  the  subject.  Without  hesitation  he  de- 
clared that  he  experienced  a  sensation  of  heat,  then  of 
cold,  and  always  attributed  the  sensation  of  heat  to  the 
hot  bottle,  and  that  of  cold  to  the  other.  All  the  per- 
sons verified  the  fact  that  he  was  not  mistaken,  and  that 
he  identified  at  a  distance  the  warm  bottle  and  the  cold 
bottle. 

The  temperature  of  the  warm  bottle  was  not  sufficiently 
high  for  it  to  be  distinguished  at  this  distance,  and  the 
two  bottles  being  identical,  no  one  could  transmit  any 
idea  to  the  subject. 

One  of  our  colleagues  made  the  following  observation : — 

"  Every  living  body  may  be,  in  certain  circumstances, 
a  more  or  less  active  source  of  electricity.  When  we 
bring  near  the  subject  any  pointed  object  held  in  the 
hand,  such  as  a  needle  or  pin,  or  even  when  the  operator 
simply  brings  his  finger  near,  an  electrical  discharge  is 
produced,  which  causes  the  subject  to  give  evidence  of  a 
sensation  by  hypnotic  hypergesthesia,  and  would  explain 
the  effect  produced  by  this  current,  too  feeble  to  be  per- 
ceived by  any  one  else." 

We  accept  all  the  hypotheses,  and  desire  to  examine 
and  study  seriously  all  that  are  presented  to  us.  In  order 
to  verify  this  one,  we  took  a  semi-circular  metallic  plate, 
which  we  placed  by  the  side  of  the  subject,  in  communi- 
cation with  the  earth,  without  direct  communication 
between  the  subject  and  the  metallic  plate.  If  the 
hypothesis  of  an  electrical  current  were  true,  the  electri- 
city discharged  by  the  point  or  by  the  fingers  ought, 
owing  to  the  presence  of  the  metallic  plate,  to  be  lost 
in  the  earth  and  the  subject  would  feel  nothing.  After 
interposing  the  plate,  we  brought  the  points  or  fingers 
near  to  the  subject  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  before. 
The  phenomenon  was  produced  through  tlic  plate,  and 


EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY        27 

the  subject  experienced  the  same  sensations  as  in  the 
previous  experiments  made  without  any  interposition. 
We  therefore  eHminate  the  hypothesis  of  a  sensation 
due  to  an  electrical  current  discharged  by  the  operator. 

In  the  course  of  these  experiments  a  new  and  abso- 
lutely unexpected  phenomenon  presented  itself. 

The  subject,  after  awaking,  was  always  absolutely 
ignorant  and  unconscious  of  what  had  taken  place  while 
he  was  asleep,  consistently  with  the  law  governing  the  state 
of  memory  in  the  hypnotic  condition  in  which  he  was 
placed.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  subject,  having  abso- 
lute confidence  in  us,  did  not  know  the  kind  of  experiments 
we  were  making  during  his  sleep;  and  we  were  careful 
after  he  awoke  not  to  speak  before  him  of  the  observations 
which  had  been  made. 

But,  on  several  occasions,  the  day  after  the  experi- 
ments, the  subject  told  me  that  he  had  dreamt  or  felt  in 
the  night,  when  asleep,  that  he  was  being  pricked  or 
pinched,  or  that  his  hair  was  being  pulled,  all  correspond- 
ing exactly  with  the  experiments  made  during  the  pre- 
vious day.  One  day  even  it  happened  that  I  had  left  the 
laboratory  for  a  few  moments  to  allow  some  colleagues  to 
make  certain  experiments  without  any  participation  on 
my  part.  During  this  time  one  of  them,  wishing  to  try 
contact  at  a  greater  distance,  flourished  a  cane  around  the 
subject.  The  following  day,  the  subject  told  me  that, 
during  the  night,  he  felt  blows  on  the  head  with  a  stick. 

We  sought  for  the  explanation  of  this  phenomenon.  It 
could  not  be  the  remembrance  of  what  had  been  done 
during  the  hypnotic  condition,  which  reappeared  during 
the  subject's  sleep.  In  fact,  we  know  by  the  laws  of 
memory  in  hypnotic  states,  that  for  the  subject  to  be 
able  to  recall  to  memory  what  has  taken  place  in  his 
hypnotic  condition,  he  must  again  be  plunged  into  a 
similar  condition.  Now,  his  sleep  at  night  would  not  be 
a  condition  analogous  to  that  in  which  we  were  making 
the  experiments,  because,  after  awaking  from  his  hypnotic 
state,  we  know  that  he  had  lost  the  memory  of  all  that 
had   happened ;    if  he  had   passed  into  a  similar   state 


28  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

during  the  night,  ho  would  also  have  lost,  on  awaking, 
the  memory  of  what  he  had  felt  whilst  in  that  state,  and 
would  not  therefore  have  been  able  to  tell  us. 

However,  another  observation  made  in  the  course  of 
the  same  experiments  put  us  on  the  track  of  what  we 
believe  to  be  the  true  explanation  of  this  phenomenon. 

When  there  was  produced  in  the  subject  a  sensation  of 
pricking  or  pinching,  by  an  action  at  a  distance,  if  we  left 
him  quiet,  we  often  noticed  that  a  few  moments  after  the 
first  movement,  the  subject  brought  his  hand  to  the  sensi- 
tive spot,  as  though  he  still  felt  a  painful  sensation.  If 
we  had  made  numerous  prickings,  pinchings,  &c.,  at 
different  parts  of  the  body,  and  then  observed  the  subject, 
without  having  made  a  negative  suggestion,  we  saw  him 
turn,  stroke  the  different  parts  of  the  body  with  his  hands, 
and,  if  the  excitations  were  very  numerous  and  violent, 
writhe  and  moan  as  if  he  was  still  suffering,  and  simul- 
taneously in  all  the  parts  affected. 

The  error  must  not  be  committed  of  taking  these 
phenomena  either  for  auto-suggestions  or  as  indications 
of  simulation  on  the  subject's  part.  In  fact,  on  the  one 
hand,  auto-suggestions,  which  sometimes  come  when  the 
subject  is  not  in  deep  sleep,  or  at  the  beginning  of  the 
hypnosis,  do  not  occur  in  the  circumstances  or  manner 
we  have  indicated  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  symptoms 
of  the  deep  hypnotic  state  persist  and  can  be  reproduced 
at  this  moment. 

We  concluded  that  an  excitation  produced  at  a  dis- 
ance,  in  a  subject  whose  sensibility  has  been  externalised, 
leaves  a  persistent  painful  trace.  We  do  not  know  the 
nature  of  the  sensation  thus  experienced  by  the  subject. 
It  may  probably  be  more  vague  than  those  which  are  per- 
ceived directly  in  the  waking  state.  We  do  know  that  the 
subject  habitually  distinguishes  between  certain  kinds  of 
sensations,  such  as  prickings,  pinchings,  heat,  &c. 

In  the  second  place,  and  this  is  one  of  the  principal 
conclusions  of  these  last  experiments,  these  excitations 
leave  a  persistent  trace,  as  painful  and  definite  as  the  sen- 
sation itself.     We  may  compare  them  with  a  blow  which 


EXTERNALISATION   OF  SENSIBILITY        29 

leaves  a  sensible  contusion,  or  with  a  mosquito  sting  which 
leaves  an  irritation  behind  :  if  later,  the  rubbing  of  a  gar- 
ment or  contact  with  an  object  excites  the  sensitive  part, 
the  pain  reappears  very  much  as  when  it  was  first  caused. 
We  may  remark  also  that  in  these  actions  which  we 
exercise  at  a  distance  on  the  subject,  we  act  on  a  plane 
which  is  not  clearly  defined.  The  different  points  from 
which  we  can  excite  the  sensibility  of  the  subject,  form,  if 
I  may  so  express  it,  a  virtual  plane  situated  in  space. 
The  result  is  that  the  excitation  we  produce  is,  in  spite  of 
us  and  unknown  to  us,  now  stronger,  now  weaker,  which 
explains  the  differences  in  the  intensity  and  clearness  of 
the  sensations  perceived  by  the  subject. 


CHAPTER   III 

SPONTANEOUS  PHENOMENA— MULTIPLE  PERSONALITY 
AND  ABNORMAL  CONSCIOUSNESS— ABNORMAL  FACUL- 
TIES IN  HYPNOTIC  SUBJECTS 

We  observe  occasionally,  in  certain  special  subjects, 
abnormal  phenomena  which  present  themselves  spon- 
taneously. These  phenomena  are,  in  some  cases,  the 
manifestation  of  abnormal  knowledge,  unconsciously  to 
the  subject,  of  the  class  we  have  seen  produced  in  cer- 
tain dreams;  at  other  times,  they  seem  to  be  connected 
with  transmission  of  thought.  Again,  the  facts  of 
multiple  personality  seem  to  be  connected  with  this 
class  of  phenomena.  To  give  an  idea  of  these  multiple 
personalities  I  will  give  a  resume  of  the  well-known  case 
of  Eelida  X. 

Felida  was  born  in  Bordeaux  in  1841,  of  healthy 
parents.  She  was  intelligent  and  well-educated,  and  in 
later  life  had  charge  of  a  grocer's  shop.  When  fourteen 
years  of  age,  after  puberty,  her  health  was  disturbed,  her 
temper  became  gloomy,  and  she  had  her  first  fits,  which 
came  on  every  five  or  six  days.  They  are  thus  described 
by  Dr.  Azam,  who  was  called  in  to  attend  her : — 

Felida  X.  is  seated  with  some  needlework  on  her 
knees ;  suddenly,  without  any  Avarning,  and,  after  a  pain 
in  the  temples,  more  violent  than  usual,  her  head  fiills  on 
to  her  chest,  her  hands  stop  working  and  fall  inert  beside 
her  body,  she  sleeps,  or  appears  to  sleep,  but  it  is  a  special 
kind  of  sleep,  because  neither  noise  nor  excitation,  pincli- 
ings  nor  ])rickings,  will  awaken  her ;  further,  this  kind  of 
deep,  sudden  sleep  lasts  two  or  three  minutes ;  formerly  it 
lasted  much  longer. 

After  this  time,  Felida  awakes,  but  she  is  no  longer 

30 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  S\ 

in  the  same  intellectual  state  as  before  she  went  to  sleep. 
Everything  seems  to  be  different.  She  raises  her  head, 
opens  her  eyes,  smilingly  greets  the  new-comers  ;  her  face 
brightens  and  is  mirthful ;  she  says  but  little,  and  she 
continues,  humming  all  the  time,  the  needlework  she 
had  previously  begun.  She  rises,  walks  quickly,  and 
scarcely  complains  of  the  thousand  pains  from  which  a 
few  minutes  previously  she  had  suffered ;  she  attends  to 
the  household  duties,  goes  out,  walks  about  the  town, 
makes  visits,  sets  about  some  kind  of  work,  her  manners 
and  gaiety  those  of  a  young  healthy  girl  of  her  own  age. 
Her  character  is  completely  changed  ;  from  being  sad  she 
has  become  gay ;  and  her  vivacity  borders  on  boisterous- 
ness,  her  imagination  is  almost  over-excited ;  she  shows 
emotion,  pleasurable  or  the  reverse,  at  the  least  thing ; 
from  being  completely  indifferent  to  all  that  happens, 
she  has  become  sensitive  in  the  highest  degree. 

When  in  this  state  she  remembers  perfectly  all  that 
has  happened  previously,  when  in  similar  conditions,  as  well 
as  in  her  normal  state.  I  should  add  that  she  has  always 
maintained  that  the  state,  whatever  it  may  be,  in  which 
she  is  when  she  is  spoken  to,  is  her  normal  state,  which 
she  calls  the  right  one  in  contradistinction  to  the  other, 
which  she  calls  a  convulsion. 

In  this  condition,  as  in  the  other,  her  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties,  though  quite  different,  are  undoubtedly 
complete ;  there  is  no  delirious  notion,  no  false  apprecia- 
tion, no  hallucination.  I  might  even  say,  that  in  this 
second  state,  in  this  "  condition,"  all  her  faculties  appear 
more  highly  developed  and  efficient.  This  second  con- 
dition, in  which  pain  is  not  felt,  is  much  superior  to  the 
other;  particularly  in  the  important  fact  already  noted, 
that  while  it  lasts  Felida  knows  what  has  happened,  not 
only  during  all  the  previous  attacks,  but  also  during  her 
normal  condition,  whilst  normally  she  knows  nothing 
that  has  happened  during  her  attacks. 

After  a  period  which,  in  1858,  lasted  three  or  four  hours 
nearly  every  day,  Felida's  gaiety  suddenly  disappears,  her 
head  falls  into  the  state  of  torpor  previously  described. 


32  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

After  three  or  four  minutes  she  opens  her  eyes  and  re- 
turns to  her  normal  condition. 

The  change  is  scarcely  perceptible,  because  she  con- 
tinues her  work  with  almost  intense  eagerness ;  most 
frequently  it  is  some  sewing  commenced  during  the  pre- 
vious period.  It  is  strange  to  her  (since  her  somnam- 
bulistic condition  is  forgotten  on  awaking),  and  it  becomes 
an  effort  of  imagination  for  her  to  understand  it.  Never- 
theless she  goes  on  with  it  as  well  as  she  can,  lamenting 
her  unfortunate  condition.  Her  relatives,  who  are  used 
to  this  state,  help  her  to  understand. 

A  few  minutes  previously  she  had  been  singing  some 
ballad ;  when  asked  to  sing  it  again  she  was  entirely  igno- 
rant of  what  was  meant;  when  spoken  to  concerning  a 
visit  she  had  just  received,  she  did  not  remember  that  she 
had  seen  any  one.  I' think  I  ought  to  define  the  extent 
of  this  forgetfulness ;  it  only  refers  to  Avhat  has  passed 
while  she  is  in  the  second  condition :  no  general  ideas 
previously  acquired  are  affected;  she  can  read,  write, 
count,  cut  out,  sew,  and  do  many  other  things  perfectly 
which  she  could  do  before  her  illness,  or  which  she  has 
learned  during  previous  normal  periods. 

If  I  had  any  doubts  as  to  the  complete  separation 
of  these  two  existences,  they  would  have  been  dispelled 
by  what  I  am  about  to  relate.  A  young  man  of  about 
eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  age  had  known  Felida  since 
her  childhood  and  used  to  come  to  the  house.  A  great 
affection  existed  between  them,  and  they  were  engaged 
to  be  married. 

One  day  Felida,  who  Avas  more  sad  than  usual,  said  to 
me,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  that  her  illness  was  becoming 
worse,  her  body  was  growing  larger,  and  she  felt  sick 
every  morning  ;  in  a  word,  she  made  me  believe  that 
she  was  enceinte.  From  the  disturbed  looks  of  those 
around  my  suspicions  were  confirmed.  In  fact,  in  the 
attack  which  shortly  followed,  Felida  said  to  me  before 
the  same  people:  "I  know  perfectly  well  what  I  have 
said  ;  you  must  have  understood  me ;  I  tell  you  plainly 
I  believe  I  am  pregnant."     In  this  second  condition  her 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  33 

pregnancy  did  not  disturb  her,  and  she  was  as  hvely  as 
usual. 

Having  become  enceinte  during  her  second  condition, 
she  was  ignorant  of  it  during  her  normal  state,  and  only 
knew  of  it  when  in  her  other  similar  condition ;  but  this 
ignorance  could  not  last ;  a  neighbour,  before  whom  she 
had  expressed  herself  very  clearly,  and  who  was  unduly 
sceptical,  believed  that  Felida  was  acting  a  part,  and 
brutally  repeated  to  her  the  confidences  she  had  made 
during  the  attack.  The  discovery  affected  the  girl  so 
much  that  she  had  hysterical  convulsions,  and  I  had  to 
remain  in  attendance  on  her  for  three  hours. 

Felida  shortly  afterwards  married  the  young  man,  and 
from  1859  to  1876  ten  children  were  born,  but  only  two 
of  them  lived.  The  periods  of  attack,  or  second  condition, 
which,  in  1859,  only  lasted  for  about  one-tenth  of  her 
existence,  gradually  increased  in  duration  until  they 
became  equal  to  her  normal  state,  and  then  became 
further  extended  until  they  occupied  almost  the  whole 
of  her  existence. 

It  has  several  times  happened  that  she  has  gone  to 
sleep  at  night  in  her  normal  condition  and  awakened  in 
the  morning  in  the  second  one,  without  either  she  or  her 
husband  being  conscious  of  the  change,  which,  therefore, 
took  place  during  sleep.  This  transition  has,  moreover, 
become  almost  imperceptible  by  its  rapidity,  even  in  the 
waking  state,  which  makes  the  situation  very  sad,  because 
of  the  constant  gaps  produced  in  her  memory,  and  the 
disturbances  in  her  business  and  family  relationships. 

Abnormal  knowledge,  some  examples  of  which  will  be 
given,  is  comparable  with  certain  facts  observed  in  the 
dream  condition.  Nevertheless,  in  the  cases  here  reported, 
it  will  be  noticed  that  the  facts  were  not  observed  while  the 
subject  was  in  a  sleep,  but,  as  may  be  assumed  from  the 
circumstances,  in  a  kind  of  spontaneous  hypnotic  condition. 

The  following  examples  are  taken  from  Aksakofs 
work : — 

"  For  some  time  "  (reports  Mr.  John  Young)  "  my  wife 

c 


34.  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

was  under  the  influence  of  German  spirits  :  she  spoke  and 
sang  in  German  for  several  evenings  in  succession. 

"  No  one  in  our  circle  understood  this  language. 
Desiring  to  assure  myself  of  the  fact,  I  invited  a  German 
doctor,  Herr  Tuler,  to  come  and  give  me  his  opinion.  He 
came  twice  and  conversed  with  the  medium  in  German  for 
more  than  an  hour  on  each  occasion.  His  astonishment 
was  great,  but  his  joy  at  being  able  to  speak  in  his  mother- 
tongue  was  greater.  In  addition  to  German,  my  wife  has 
spoken  in  Italian,  a  language  of  which  she  is  equally 
ignorant."  ^ 

Judge  Edmonds  reports  the  case  of  his  daughter,  who 
only  knew  English  or  French,  speaking  in  Hindustani, 
Spanish,  Polish,  Greek,  and  Italian,  when  in  a  trance  con- 
dition. One  day,  he  relates,  his  daughter  maintained  a 
long  conversation  with  a  Greek  in  his  native  language. 
"  At  the  time  the  emotion  of  M.  Evangelides  (the  Greek) 
was  so  great  that  it  drew  the  attention  of  those  present : 
we  asked  him  the  reason,  but  he  avoided  making  any 
reply.  It  was  only  at  the  end  of  the  seance  that  he  told 
us  that,  previously,  he  had  not  witnessed  any  spiritistic 
manifestations,  and  that,  in  the  course  of  the  conversation, 
he  had  made  various  experiments  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  this  class  of  phenomena.  These  experiments 
consisted  of  broaching  various  subjects  through  my 
daughter,  concerning  which  she  certainly  could  possess 
no  knowledge,  and,  in  frequently  changing  the  theme, 
passing  abruptly  from  matters  of  a  private  character  to 
political,  philosophical,  and  physiological  questions.  In 
reply  to  our  interrogations  he  assured  us  that  the  medium 
understood  the  Greek  language  and  spoke  it  correctly."  2 

Aksakof  cites  another  remarkable  example  of  know- 
ledge not  learned :  that  of  a  child  "  who  played  a  piece 
without  ever  having  learned  music,"  as  testified  by  Mr.  N. 
Tallmadge,  formerly  senator  and  governor  of  Wisconsin, 
father  of  the  medium. 

The  following  is  his  statement : — 

"  In  the  month  of  June,  1853,  on  my  return  from  New 

*  Aksakof,  Spiritism  and  Animism.  *  Ibid.,  p.  358. 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  35 

York,  where  I  had  observed  several  spiritistic  manifesta- 
tions, I  went  to  a  writing  medium,  who  Uved  near  me, 
and  received  a  message  advising  me  to  organise  a  private 
circle  in  my  own  house,  and  predicting  that  a  medium 
would  be  found  who  would  surpass  all  my  expectation. 

"  I  expressed  a  desire  to  know  the  name  of  this  medium, 
and  was  told  it  Avould  be  my  daughter.  '  Which  ? '  I 
asked ;  '  because  I  have  four.'  '  Emily/  was  the  reply. 
Then  I  was  enjoined  to  place  Emily  at  the  piano  when 
the  seances  were  organised.  Emily  was  my  youngest 
daughter,  thirteen  years  of  age.  I  ought  to  mention  that 
she  did  not  know  much  music,  and  had  never  played  any 
air  whatever.  ...  I  soon  succeeded  in  organising  this 
circle.  I  gave  Emily  a  sheet  of  paper  and  a  pencil.  Her 
hand  traced  some  straight  lines  which  formed  a  stave. 
Then  she  put  in  the  notes  and  added  the  signs.  This  done, 
she  dropped  the  pencil  and  tapped  the  table  as  though 
touching  the  keys  of  an  instrument.  I  then  remembered 
that  I  was  to  place  her  at  the  piano.  After  a  moment's 
hesitation  she  complied  with  my  request,  and  sat  down  at 
the  piano  with  the  assurance  of  an  accomplished  artist. 

"  She  attacked  the  keyboard  resolutely,  and  executed 
Beethoven's  Grand  Valse  in  a  manner  which  would,  have 
done  honour  to  a  good  musician.  Then  she  played  several 
other  known  airs.  She  then  played  an  unknown  air,  at 
the  same  time  singing  the  improvised  words  correspond- 
ing with  it."  1 

To  these  spontaneous  phenomena  we  will  add  some 
facts,  which,  it  is  true,  belong  rather  to  the  domain  of 
hypnotism.  We  shall  examine  them  here  in  order  to 
show  the  relations  which  exist  between  facts  of  a  hypnotic 
character  and  certain  psychical  phenomena. 

The  cases  we  have  given  are  those  in  which  a  hypnotic 
or  suggestive  action  is  manifested  at  a  distance,  with- 
out the  subject  being  able  to  perceive,  by  the  aid  of  the 
normal  senses,  the  influence  exercised  upon  him.  There 
is  therefore  here  also  the  manifestation  in  the  hypno- 
tised  subject  of   a   new  perceptive    faculty,  which  does 

1  Aksakof,  Spiritism  and  Animism,  p.  370. 


36  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

not  exist  in  the  normal  state,  and  which  is  independent 
of  the  sensory  organs,  through  which  he  is  ordinarily  in 
relation  with  the  external  world. 

The  first  case  refers  to  two  experiments  in  inducing 
sleep  at  a  distance,  which  were  published  some  years  ago 
in  the  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 

In  September  1892  Mr.  X.  and  his  family  were  spend- 
ing a  holiday  in  the  small  town  of  Amelie-les-Bains. 

There  had  been  much  talk  during  the  year  among  the 
visitors,  of  the  seances  given  at  the  Casino  by  a  young  man 
of  the  district,  who  called  himself  Dockman.  Mr.  X.  at- 
tended through  curiosity.  The  medium,  who  was  about 
twenty  years  of  age,  dark  and  spare  of  figure,  and  evidently 
very  nervous,  had,  it  appears,  three  years  previously, 
served  as  subject  to  a  naval  doctor,  and  these  experiments 
had  caused  him  to  take  up  the  vocation  of  thought-reader. 
Every  one  knows  this  class  of  performance,  where  one  of  the 
audience  endeavours,  more  or  less  successfully,  to  transmit 
his  will  to  the  medium,  without  words  or  gesture,  and 
even  without  contact,  by  a  simple  mental  effort. 

The  penetration  of  the  young  mountaineer  appeared 
to  him  to  be  frequently  defective,  and  the  medium  himself 
confessed  to  him  that  he  tried  to  guess  by  all  sorts  of  indi- 
cations the  intentions  of  the  thought-transmitter.  "  You 
ought,"  said  Mr.  X.,  laughing,  "  to  go  into  trance  so  as 
to  recover  your  former  lucidity :  if  you  feel  inclined  I  am 
quite  willing  to  render  you  this  service." 

Dockman  appeared  surprised  and  somewhat  oftended 
by  this  proposition.  "It  is  I  who  send  people  to  sleep," 
he  said  ;  "  I  am  no  longer  put  to  sleep  myself." 

However,  a  few  days  later,  probably  to  humour  the 
mayor  of  the  town,  who  seemed  desirous  of  being  present 
at  a  hypnotic  seance,  Dockman  consented.  Accordingly, 
one  evening  about  six  o'clock,  before  a  circle  of  four  or 
five  persons,  Mr.  X.  took  hold  of  his  thumbs  and  looked 
steadily  at  his  eyes :  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes  he  fell 
asleep,  if  we  may  so  call  the  comatose  or  cataleptic  state 
into  which  he  appeared  to  be  plunged.  His  whole  body  was 
stiffened,  his  jaws  contracted,  and,  with  great  difficulty, 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  37 

brief  responses  to  questions  were  obtained.  The  awaken- 
ing took  place  very  slowly,  A  second  sleep  presented  the 
same  characteristics,  except  that  the  subject  was  more 
quickly  awakened.  Briefly,  the  subject  did  not  seem  very 
interesting,  and  Mr.  X.  did  not  see  that  much  could  be  got 
out  of  him. 

The  following  day,  according  to  custom,  Mr.  X.  went 
to  the  Casino  about  mid-day  to  have  some  coffee  and  be 
present  at  a  rehearsal  of  a  piece  which  was  to  be  played 
that  evening.  The  small  theatre  where  the  actors  sang 
their  vague  ritornellos  occupied  the  end  of  a  garden, 
shaded  by  large  trees;  there  were  seats  and  tables  for 
customers ;  and,  overlooking  the  theatre  and  the  garden, 
was  a  long  terrace  to  which  the  habitues  came  every  day 
to  play  cards. 

Mr.  X.  seated  himself  on  the  terrace,  and,  while  sipping 
his  coffee,  he  looked  down  on  the  scene  beneath  him. 
Dockman  was  sitting  in  the  garden  with  a  friend,  who 
was  reading  a  newspaper ;  he  presently  almost  turned  his 
back  and  began  to  roll  a  cigarette.  X.  did  not  know  how, 
but  the  idea  came  to  him  to  try  the  experiment  here 
described,  and,  with  all  the  force  of  his  will,  he  imme- 
diately put  it  into  execution.  Concentrating  his  mind 
entirely  on  this  one  thought,  he  looked  steadfastly  in 
Dockman's  direction,  and  commanded  him  to  stop  all 
movements  and  to  go  to  sleep.  Dockman  did  not  appear 
to  perceive  that  X.  was  looking  at  him,  but  his  actions 
quickly  slackened,  and  his  eyes  became  fixed.  The  un- 
finished cigarette  remained  in  his  hands,  he  suddenly 
dropped  his  eyelids,  and  became  motionless  as  a  statue. 
His  friend  raised  his  head,  perceived  his  condition,  ques- 
tioned him,  but  obtained  no  response.  A  singer,  seated 
at  a  neighbouring  table,  became  frightened  and  screamed 
aloud.  Mr.  X.  hastened  and  went  down,  and,  in  a  few 
moments,  by  breathing  quickly  on  his  eyes,  awoke  his 
improvised  subject,  who  did  not  even  seem  to  know  what 
had  happened  to  him. 

Mr.  X.  had  made  this  experiment  on  the  bare  chance, 
not  at  all  counting  on  success,  and  was  himself  astonished 


38  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

at  the  result.  On  the  following  day  he  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  repeating  it.  He  reached  the  Casino  about 
half-past  one.  On  this  occasion  Dockman  was  sitting  on 
the  terrace  by  himself,  at  a  table,  writing  a  letter,  bent 
nearly  double,  his  nose  almost  resting  on  the  blotting-pad. 
Mr.  X.'s  table  was  five  or  six  yards  away  ;  between  them 
was  a  party  of  four,  playing  cards.  Mr.  X.  again  con- 
centrated himself  with  a  nervous  tension,  which  caused 
him  to  vibrate  from  head  to  foot,  and,  while  looking 
quietly  at  Dockman,  commanded  him  with  all  his  power 
to  cease  writing  and  go  to  sleep.  The  effect  was  less 
rapid  than  before.  It  might  be  said  that  the  subject 
struggled  against  his  will.  After  one  or  two  minutes,  he 
gave  visible  signs  of  a  thrilling  sensation ;  his  pen  re- 
mained suspended,  as  if  he  sought  in  vain  for  words :  he 
made  a  gesture  with  his  hand  as  though  throwing  oft'  an 
obsessing  influence ;  then  he  tore  up  the  letter  he  had 
commenced  and  began  to  write  another ;  but  his  pen 
soon  remained  fixed  on  the  paper,  and  he  went  to  sleep 
in  that  position.  X.  went  close  up  to  him,  with  several 
others  who  had  stopped  their  games ;  his  whole  body 
was  contracted  and  hard  as  a  piece  of  wood ;  they  tried 
unsuccessfully  to  bend  one  of  his  arms ;  the  stifthess  was 
only  removed  by  means  of  passes ;  the  waking  was  accom- 
plished by  blowing  on  his  eyes.  When  he  had  recovered 
the  use  of  his  senses,  Dockman  begged  Mr.  X.  not  to 
repeat  these  experiments ;  he  complained  of  having  been 
much  fatigued  by  the  former  one.  He  affirmed,  more- 
over, that  he  had  gone  to  sleep  on  these  two  occasions 
without  having  had  the  slightest  suspicion  that  this 
abrupt  sleep  had  been  caused  by  X.  or  by  any  one  else. 

It  may,  it  is  true,  be  claimed  that  in  these  two  cases 
the  subject  perceived,  without  knowing  it,  the  person  who 
had  already  hypnotised  him,  and  that  he  had  then  gone 
to  sleep  by  a  phenomenon  of  auto-suggestion.  We  cannot, 
from  the  data  given,  produce  any  absolute  proof  to  the  con- 
trary. Nevertheless,  we  may  ask  ourselves  Avhy  the  sub- 
ject did  not  go  to  sleep  on  several  other  occasions  when 
he  was  in  the  presence  of  the  same  experimenter.     Why 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  39 

should  auto-suggestion  be  produced  on  these  two  occa- 
sions only  on  which  the  experimenter  suggested  sleep  ? 

In  the  following  case,  taken  from  Mats  Profonds  de 
I'Hypnose,  by  Colonel  de  Rochas,  we  have  a  suggestion 
made  at  a  distance  after  the  subject  had  been  brought 
back  to  the  normal  condition.  And  here  the  conditions 
of  the  experiment  are  such  that  they  allow  all  possibility 
of  auto-suggestion  to  be  entirely  eliminated. 

"  One  evening,"  says  Colonel  de  Rochas,  "  after  a  long 
seance,  in  which  Madame  X.,  already  mentioned,  had  been 
magnetised  by  me  and  had  given  proofs  of  extraordinary 
sensitiveness,  the  idea  came  to  me,  on  returning  to  my 
rooms,  situated  several  miles  away  from  her  hotel,  to  give 
her  the  order  to  bring  to  me  at  eleven  o'clock  the  follow- 
ing  day  a  large  book  which  I  had  lent  her  that  day.  I 
devoted  all  my  energies  to  this  order,  which  I  repeated 
several  times  in  a  loud  voice,  supposing  thiit,  at  this  time, 
Madame  X.  would  be  asleep,  or,  at  least,  in  calm  and  favour- 
able isolation.  I  saw  nothing  of  her  on  the  following  day, 
which  did  not  astonish  me ;  but,  on  the  day  after,  I  was 
greatly  surprised  when  a  servant  brought  me  the  book  which 
Madame  X.  had  certainly  not  had  time  to  read.  I  hastened 
to  her  and  said :  '  My  book  then  has  not  interested  you, 
since  you  return  it  so  quickly.'  '  Quite  the  reverse,'  she 
replied,  'but  since  eleven  o'clock  yesterday  I  have  had 
the  idea  that  you  wished  to  have  it,  and  I  should  have 
brought  it  myself  had  I  not  been  so  busy.' " 

The  following  case  is  rather  an  example  of  thought- 
reading,  for  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  transmitter  acted 
involuntarily  and  unconsciously.  The  fact  is  reported 
in  the  publications  of  the  Angers  Society  of  Medicine 
by  Dr.  Quintard.     I  give  a  summary  of  the  report. 

Ludovic  X.  is  a  child  less  than  seven  years  of  age, 
lively,  gay,  strong,  in  excellent  health,  and  free  from  all 
nervous  taint.  His  parents  also  show  nothing  suspicious 
from  the  neuro-pathological  point  of  view.  At  the  age 
of  five,  however,  the  child  seemed  to  follow  in  the  steps 
of  the  celebrated  Inaudi.  His  mother,  at  this  time,  wish- 
ing to  teach  him  the  multiplication  table,  was  surprised 


40  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

to  find  that  he  could  repeat  it  as  well  as  she  could ! 
Soon  the  child,  taking  to  it  as  a  sport,  came  to  be  able 
to  multiply  large  numbers  in  his  head. 

At  the  present  time,  one  has  only  to  read  to  him  a 
problem  taken  at  hazard  from  a  collection,  and  he,  at 
once,  gives  the  solution.  Take  this,  for  example :  "If 
you  put  25  francs  50  centimes  in  my  pocket,  I  should 
then  have  three  times  as  much  as  I  now  have,  less 
5  francs  40  centimes.  How  much  have  I  ? "  The  problem 
had  scarcely  been  stated  when  the  child,  without  even 
taking  time  to  think,  replied  correctly :  "15  francs 
45  centimes."  At  the  end  of  the  book,  amongst  the 
more  difficult  problems,  we  find  this  one :  "  The  radius 
of  the  earth  is  equal  to  6,366  kilometres.  Find  the  dis- 
tance to  the  sun,  knowing  that  it  is  equal  to  24,000 
times  the  earth's  radius.  Express  this  distance  in 
leagues."  The  bantling,  in  his  childish  treble,  gave,  again 
without  hesitation,  this  solution,  which  is  that  in  the 
work:  "38,196,000  leagues."  The  child's  father,  having 
other  things  on  his  mind,  did  not,  at  first,  pay  much 
attention  to  the  performances  of  his  son.  At  last,  how- 
ever, he  gave  heed  to  them,  and,  as  his  profession  makes 
him  somewhat  observant,  he  soon  noticed  that:  (1)  The 
child  scarcely  listened,  sometimes  not  at  all,  to  the  read- 
ing of  the  problem ;  (2)  his  mother,  whose  presence  is 
necessary  for  the  success  of  the  experiment,  must  always 
have,  before  her  eyes  or  in  her  mind,  the  required  solu- 
tion. From  this  he  deduced  that  the  boy  did  not  make 
any  calculation,  but  guessed  it,  or,  more  correctly, 
practised  thought-reading  on  his  mother ;  and  he  at 
once  decided  to  assure  himself  of  this.  Consequently, 
he  asked  Madame  X.  to  open  a  dictionary  and  ask  her 
son  what  page  she  had  before  her ;  the  boy  immediately 
replied:  "It  is  page  456,"  which  was  correct.  This  ex- 
periment was  repeated  ten  times,  each  time  with  correct 
results. 

A  phrase  is  written  in  a  note-book,  and,  however  long 
it  may  be,  it  is  sufficient,  if  it  passes  before  the  mother's 
eye,    for   the   boy    to  repeat  the  ])hrase  word  for  word, 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  41 

even  though  asked  to  do  so  by  a  stranger.  It  is  not 
even  necessary  for  the  phrase,  number,  or  word  to  be 
placed  on  paper ;  it  is  sufficient  for  it  to  be  quite  clear 
in  the  mother's  mind  for  the  son  to  perform  the  mental 
reading.  But  the  child's  triumph  is  in  society  games. 
He  will  tell,  one  after  another,  all  the  cards  in  the  pack. 

Dr.  Quintard  then  discusses  suggestion  as  an  ex- 
planatory hypothesis. 

"For  it  to  be  suggestion  in  the  case  before  us,  it 
must  be  proved  that  the  mother  has  a  certain  psychical 
concentration,  a  certain  degree  of  will-power  indispens- 
able to  the  success  of  the  experiment.  But  the  thought- 
reading  is  accomplished,  most  frequently,  against  her 
will.  There  is,  in  fact,  a  dark  side  to  the  picture.  When 
the  child  reached  the  age  to  learn  to  read  in  earnest,  his 
mother,  who  had  devoted  herself  to  this  task,  noticed, 
to  her  sorrow,  that  her  son  made  no  progress  under  her 
instruction.  Guessing  everything,  he  exercised  neither 
judgment  nor  memory."  Another  physician,  Dr.  Tesson, 
examined  the  child  and  confirmed  Dr.  Quintard's  ob- 
servations before  the  Angers  Society  of  Medicine. 

In  spontaneous  somnambulism,  we  observe,  in  some 
subjects,  phenomena  which  seem  to  belong,  not  to 
lucidity,  but  to  a  special  faculty  which  gives  them  know- 
ledge they  do  not  possess  in  the  waking  state.  This 
faculty  is  particularly  developed,  it  seems,  with  regard 
to  a  fact  which  strongly  impresses  the  subject,  or  in 
which  he  is  specially  interested. 

The  two  following  cases  are  quoted  by  Colonel  de 
Rochas  in  his  work  Etats  Profonds  de  VHypnose. 

"  Sergeant  B.  of  the  113th  Regiment,  with  whom  I  had 
made  several  experiments  relative  to  polarity,  was  subject 
to  fits  of  natural  somnambulism,  which  occurred,  on  the 
average,  every  eight  or  ten  days.  The  attack  generally 
announced  itself  during  the  day  by  a  great  desire  for 
sleep ;  and,  at  night,  B.  went  to  sleep  as  soon  as  he  was 
in  bed.  After  about  two  hours,  he  would  rise,  dress,  go 
and  seat  himself  at  his  table,  and  then,  speaking  quite 
aloud,  he  would  frequently  relate  what  was  happening 


42  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

at  that  moment  to  persons  connected  with  him  ;  there 
were  some  piquant,  but  very  annoying,  revelations,  be- 
cause his  room-mate  was  always  there  to  receive  them. 

"  A  theft  took  place  in  the  regiment ;  during  the  night 
the  sergeant-major's  purse  was  taken  out  of  the  pocket  of 
his  trousers,  which  were  placed  on  a  chair  near  his  bed. 
Four  or  \  five  nights  afterwards,  B.,  who  had  heard  a 
good  deal  of  talk  about  the  affair,  had  his  fit  of  som- 
nambulism at  the  usual  hour ;  but,  instead  of  going  to  the 
table,  he  went  out  of  the  room,  followed  by  his  comrade, 
who  was  anxious  to  know  what  he  was  going  to  do.  He 
went  direct  to  the  sergeant-major's  room,  looked  at  the 
trousers,  smelled  the  floor,  and,  with  bent  head  and  open 
nostrils,  like  a  dosr  folloAving  a  scent,  he  went  along  the 
corridors,  down  the  stairs,  across  the  court,  stopping  some- 
times to  lie  down  on  the  ground  and  sniff,  grumbling  that 
he  could  scarcely  sense  any  more ;  finally,  after  some 
turns  towards  the  corners  of  the  buildings  where  the 
imaginary  thief  that  he  was  following  seemed  to  have 
watched  to  see  if  any  one  was  there,  he  went  along  a 
corridor,  up  a  flight  of  stairs,  and  straight  to  the  bed  of  a 
soldier  he  did  not  know  at  all,  and  in  whose  room  he  had 
never  set  foot.  There,  after  a  few  seconds  spent  in  exam- 
ination, he  said,  '  Too  late,'  and  returned  to  bed.  On  the 
following  day  the  story  was  spread  abroad.  The  soldier 
thus  indicated  had  a  bad  reputation ;  he  was  arrested  and 
an  inquiry  was  held,  in  the  course  of  which,  astonished  at 
the  precision  with  which  his  movements  Avere  described, 
he  said  unguardedly  :  '  Who  then  followed  me  ? '  But  this 
proof  was  not  held  sufficient  and  he  was  released,  though 
every  one  was  convinced  of  his  guilt. 

"  Two  years  later  at  Grenoble  a  still  more  curious 
incident  occurred,  in  that  the  seeker  and  the  thief  were 
probably  the  same  person.  A  hundred  franc  note  had 
been  stolen,  part  of  a  much  larger  sum,  from  a  drawer  in 
an  office  in  which  a  clerk  had  worked  who  served  as  one 
of  my  subjects. 

"All  his  colleagues  accused  him,  but  being  loth  to 
believe  him  guilty,  I  sought  to  vindicate  him  by  trying 


SPONTANEOUS   PHENOMENA  43 

to  make  him  find  the  real  thief.  Three  days  after  the 
event  I  put  him  to  sleep,  and  into  as  deep  a  hypnotic 
condition  as  possible.  I  then  led  him  up  to  the  drawer ;  I 
made  him  touch  the  bag,  on  which  he  recognised  a  con- 
tact, which  he  immediately  followed  with  closed  eyes, 
feeling  the  floor  and  the  walls  with  his  hands.  He  then 
led  me  up  to  the  door  of  his  room  in  the  same  house,  but 
drew  himself  back,  crying  and  whining,  '  It  was  not  I !  It 
was  not  I  ] '  Then  he  resumed  the  trace,  descended  a 
servant's  staircase,  crossed  diagonally  an  inner  court, 
where  I  observed  some  traces  of  footprints  in  the  earth  of  a 
small  garden,  opened  the  locked  double  doors  of  a  coach- 
house by  raising  the  bar,  and  was  preparing  to  proceed 
into  the  street  when  I  stopped  him. 

"  Interrogated  as  to  the  time  at  which  the  theft  took 
place,  he  cried  in  terror :  '  I  see  it !  I  see  it ! '  and  added, 
with  tears,  that  it  was  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Sunday  even- 
ing. It  was  discovered  on  Monday  morning.  I  then  took 
him  again  to  the  drawer,  and  gave  him  several  things 
belongmg  to  the  employees.  He  felt  these  objects  one 
after  the  other,  then  the  bag  which  had  contained  the 
note,  and  declared  that  it  was  not  the  same  contact ;  but, 
if  the  object  given  him  belonged  to  himself,  he  quickly 
withdrew  his  hands,  as  if  they  were  burnt,  sobbing  and 
protesting  his  innocence." 

Some  days  afterwards  a  second  experiment  was  made 
with  the  same  results.  Later,  through  other  clues,  con- 
vincing evidence  of  this  young  man's  guilt  was  obtained, 
and  he  was  dismissed.  Although  this  case  cannot  be 
quoted  as  a  certain  proof,  any  more  than  the  preceding, 
it  gives  not  less  interesting  indications  as  to  this  sort  of 
instinct,  analogous  to  that  which  sets  the  hunting  dog 
blindly  on  the  track  of  game,  and  of  the  persistence  in 
sleep  of  resolutions  made  in  the  waking  state. 

These  different  phenomena,  whether  spontaneous  or 
connected  with  hypnotic  states,  serve  to  demonstrate  to  us, 
in  their  simplest  form,  certain  psychical  faculties,  the  de- 
velopment of  which  we  shall  study  later ;  they  also  enable 
us  to  take  account  of  the  intimate  relations  which  exist 
between  certain  hypnotic  states  and  psychical  phenomena. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ABNORMAL    DREAMS 

We  shall  proceed  to  consider  the"  dream  as  an  auto-sugges- 
tion, or  a  suggestion  which  is  carried  out  by  virtue  of  a 
second  condition  occurring  in  the  course  of  normal  sleep. 

This  definition,  which  brings  the  dream  within  the 
category  of  general  hypnotic  phenomena,  and,  particu- 
larly, into  that  of  the  phenomena  of  suggestion,  is  the 
only  one  capable  of  giving  us  satisfaction  by  its  exact 
adaptation,  not  only  to  normal  dreams,  but  also  to  the 
numerous  and  various  classes  of  super-normal  dreams. 

To  say,  in  fact,  that  the  dream  is  the  psychical  acti- 
vity peculiar  to  sleep,  and  to  connect  the  dream  with  the 
phenomena  of  imagination,  is  no  longer  sufficient. 

In  fact,  this  is  not  a  definition  of  the  dream,  because  it 
does  not  in  any  way  explain  what  a  dream  really  is ;  more- 
over, this  definition  has  the  serious  defect  of  only  being 
applicable  to  a  very  limited  class  of  dreams. 

When  we  closely  study  the  different  categories  of 
dreams,  we  cannot  help  recognising  all  the  characteristics 
of  a  hypnotic  phenomenon,  and  I  will  add  that  only 
hypnotic  phenomena  can  furnish  the  explanation  of  the 
more  complicated  dreams.  Finally,  certain  categories  of 
dreams  undoubtedly  belong  to  the  highest  class  of  hyp- 
notic phenomena,  in  which  are  manifested  the  super- 
normal faculties  of  lucidity  and  premonition,  which  border 
on  psychical  phenomena. 

The  origin  of  the  suggestion  which  gives  birth  to  the 
dream  may  be  very  varied,  the  simplest  being  that  which 
comes  through  the  sensory  organs.  These  are  the  most 
common  kind  of  dreams  with  many  people. 

Pain  is  also  frequently  an  origin  of  suggestion  which 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  45 

produces  the  dream.  But  those  dreams  do  not  go  beyond 
the  phenomenon  of  simple  suggestion. 

We  observe  also  in  dreams  all  the  phenomena  which 
may  be  met  with  in  even  the  most  profound  hypnotic 
states.  The  first  phenomena  we  see  developed  in  the 
dream  are  thought  transmission  and  mental  suggestion. 
The  first  category  of  dreams,  in  which  we  see  these 
abnormal  faculties  developed,  is  that  of  double  dreams. 

Mrs.  Crowe,  in  her  interesting  work.  The  Night  Side  of 
Nature,  quotes  the  followmg  case  of  double  dreaming  : — 

"  I  will  relate  a  dream  that  occurred  to  two  ladies,  a 
mother  and  daughter,  the  latter  of  whom  related  it  to  me. 
They  were  sleeping  in  the  same  bed  at  Cheltenham,  when 
the  mother,  Mrs.  C,  dreamt  that  her  brother-in-law,  then 
in  Ireland,  had  sent  for  her,  that  she  entered  his  room,  and 
saw  him  in  bed,  apparently  dying.  He  requested  her  to 
kiss  him,  but  owing  to  his  livid  appearance,  she  shrank 
from  domg  so,  and  awoke  with  the  horror  of  the  scene 
upon  her.  The  daughter  awoke  at  the  same  moment, 
saying,  '  Oh,  I  have  had  such  a  frightful  dream ! '  'Oh, 
so  have  I,'  returned  the  mother :  '  I  have  been  dreaminsr 
of  my  brother-in-law.'  '  My  dream  was  about  him  too,' 
replied  Miss  C,  '  I  thought  I  was  sitting  in  the  drawing- 
room,  and  that  he  came  in  wearing  a  shroud,  trimmed 
with  black  ribbons,  and  approaching  me  he  said,  '  My 
dear  niece,  your  mother  has  refused  to  kiss  me,  but  I  am 
sure  you  Avill  not  be  so  unkind.' 

"  As  these  ladies  were  not  in  the  habit  of  regular 
correspondence  with  their  relative,  they  knew  that  the 
earliest  intelligence  likely  to  reach  them,  if  he  were  actu- 
ally dead,  would  be  by  means  of  the  Irish  papers;  and 
they  waited  anxiously  for  the  following  Wednesday, 
which  was  the  day  these  journals  were  received  in  Chel- 
tenham. When  that  morning  arrived,  Miss  C.  hastened 
at  an  early  hour  to  the  reading-room,  and  there  she  learnt 
what  the  dreams  had  led  them  to  expect :  their  friend  was 
dead ;  and  they  afterwards  ascertained  that  his  decease 
had  taken  place  on  that  very  night. 

"  They  moreover  observed  that  neither  of  them  had 


46  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

been  speaking  or  thinking  of  this  gentleman  for  some  time 
previous  to  the  occurrence  of  the  dreams ;  nor  had  they 
any  reason  whatever  for  uneasiness  with  regard  to  him. 
It  is  a  remarkable  peculiarity  in  this  case,  that  the  dream 
of  the  daughter  appears  to  be  a  continuation  of  that  of 
the  mother.  In  the  one  he  is  seen  alive,  in  the  other 
the  shroud  and  black  ribbons  seem  to  indicate  that  he 
is  dead,  and  he  complains  of  the  refusal  to  give  him  a 
farewell  kiss." 

We  have  placed  this  class  of  dreams  here,  because,  in 
our  opinion,  they  may  be  regarded  as  due  to  suggestion 
^  transmitted  from  one  sleeper  to  another.  This  suggestion 
may  take  place  through  the  sensory  organs,  as  when  one 
of  the  sleepers  speaks  or  cries  out  aloud,  evidencing  his 
state  of  mind  and  inspiring  the  second  sleeper  with  the 
ideas  which  form  the  source  of  suggestion.  But  the 
suggestion  may  also  be  mental,  or  arise  from  simple 
thought-transference,  the  two  sleepers  being  in  medium- 
istic  conditions  which  permit  of  the  one  being  the  trans- 
mitting agent  and  the  other  the  recipient. 

That  a  dream  can  be  suggested  is  not  astonishing,  but 
the  suggested  dream  is  sometimes  only  an  impulse  given 
to  the  subject.  Then,  the  latter  may  go  in  his  dream 
much  further  than  the  suggestion  made,  and  see  things 
of  which  the  transmitter  of  the  suggestion  may  know 
nothing,  and  which  may  have  no  existence  in  the  subject's 
normal  consciousness. 

It  is  certain  that  a  subject,  whose  whole  attention"^is 
fixed  by  the  phenomenon  of  dreaming  on  a  topic  which 
particularly  interests  him,  such  as  the  sickness  from  which 
he  suffers  and  the  means  of  alleviating  it,  may,  for  ex- 
ample, perceive  in  a  much  more  precise  manner  than  in 
the  normal  state,  both  the  nature  of  his  illness  and  the 
means  of  curing  it.  This  is  a  phenomenon' of  abnormal 
knowledge,  due  to  the  dream,  which  I  frequently  employ 
with  success  on  my  hypnotic  subjects. 

The  following  case,  which  happened  twelve  years  ago, 
is  one  of  the  first  observed  ;  it  is  given  by  Dr.  du  Prel  in 
his  Expervmental  Psychology. 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  47 

"  Associated  with  nie  were  some  friends,  mciubers  of 
the  Munich  Society  of  Scientific  Psychology,  and  I  com- 
menced this  experiment  on  May  29,  1889.  One  of  them, 
B.P.,  kindly  offered  himself  as  subject :  another,  D.G.,  as 
'  suggestioner.'  The  first  named  had  received  a  bullet 
shot  wound  in  the  shoulder  at  Sedan  and  did  not  have 
the  free  use  of  his  arm,  which  caused  him  great  pain.  He 
was  placed  in  a  hypnotic  condition  in  a  few  minutes,  a 
condition  which  was  manifested  by  the  automatic  action 
of  the  cataleptic  arm.  Then  on  being  questioned  as  to  his 
wound  and  what  would  relieve  his  pain,  he  spoke  briefly 
of  morphia  (an  unsuitable  means  nevertheless)  and  of  cold 
baths  for  the  arm,  which  could  only  give  him  relief  for 
about  half-an-hour.  There  was  no  resemblance  in  this  to 
the  correct  language  of  a  medical  somnambulist.  Dr.  G. 
then  gave  him  these  post-hypnotic  instructions. 

"  '  You  will  dream  to-night,  you  will  recall  the  many 
and  great  sufferings  your  wound  has  already  caused  you  ; 
you  will  call  this  to  mind  with  so  much  force  that  your 
thoughts  will  be  entirely  occupied  with  finding  a  remedy 
for  your  pain.  And  I  tell  you  that  you  will  find  one. 
You  will  learn  in  dream  how  to  cure  your  malady  com- 
pletely. This  remedy  or  curative  method  will  so  impress 
itself  upon  your  memory  that  you  will  remember  it  per- 
fectly when  you  awake  to-morrow  morning,  and  you  will 
still  remember  it  when  you  see  Dr.  du  Prel,  to  whom  you 
will  relate  your  dream  in  all  its  details.  What  I  have  said 
to  you,  will  and  must  happen.' 

"  Then  he  ordered  him,  as  was  always  done,  to  awake 
free  from  pain,  cheerful,  and  without  fatigue. 

"  We  then  left  B.P.  to  rest  for  a  little  time,  after  which 
he  awoke  quite  easily.  He  had  forgotten  all  that  had 
happened,  and  we  avoided  all  allusion  to  it.  When  I  went 
to  see  him  in  the  course  of  the  following  day,  he  thought 
that  I  had  called  respecting  the  affairs  of  the  Society.  I 
began  to  speak  of  the  hypnotic  seance  of  the  day  before, 
and  he  complained  saying  that  it  had  not  been  successful. 
However,  he  had  not  had  any  pain  after  the  seance,  which 
was  all  the  more  astonishing  as  the  weather  was  stormy. 


48  rSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

But  wlieu  hu  went  to  bed  liis  pains  became  so  acute  that 
ho  had  done  nothing  but  turn  over  in  bod,  and  was  not 
able  to  get  to  sleep  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Then  he  had  an  extraordinary  dream.  He  heard  a  voice 
speaking,  reproaching  him  for  being  negligent,  and  not 
using  anything  to  relieve  him  of  his  pain ;  he  must  com- 
mence, he  was  told,  by  cold  washings.  Then,  the  voice 
continued,  he  must  put  on  compresses  of  magnetised  water, 
covered  with  india-rubber,  and  keep  them  on  till  they  were 
completely  dry :  this  would  relieve,  and,  perhaps,  put  an 
end  to  his  pain. 

"  The  dream  appeared  to  him  so  strange  that  he  had 
told  it  to  his  wife  the  same  morning. 

"  The  latter  confirmed  the  statement  of  her  husband. 
I  then  explained  to  B.P.  that  the  dream  was  the  post- 
hypnotic accomplishment  of  the  order  which  had  been 
given  him  the  previous  day,  and  advised  him  to  try  the 
remedy  he  had  dreamed.  This  was  done,  his  Avife  magne- 
tising the  water  for  the  compresses. 

"  I  received  a  letter  from  her  two  months  later,  on  July 
24th ;  the  improvement  was  perceptible,  the  pain  had 
almost  entirely  disappeared,  excepting  during  the  very  hot 
days,  or  when  his  office  work  was  excessive  or  exhausting : 
on  many  days  he  had  been  quite  free  from  pain.  The 
treatment  would  be  continued :  she  had  even  hypnotised 
her  husband,  and  given  him  the  suggestion  of  a  second 
medical  dream.  He  had,  in  fact,  had  a  dream  in  which 
he  was  told  that  his  sufferings  would  increase  during  the 
coming  hot  weather,  which  would  necessitate  a  bath  of 
magnetised  water  for  his  arm,  and  a  compress.  This 
dream  Avas,  however,  somewhat  confused,  and  not  so  clear 
and  precise  as  the  first,  which  she  attributed  to  her  lesser 
force  of  will. 

"  The  patient  wrote  to  me  four  months  afterwards,  that 
he  was  satisfied  with  his  condition,  but  was  compelled  to 
continue  the  compresses  to  prevent  the  pain  from  returning. 
Two  months  later  he  told  me  that  he  was  free  from  all 
pain,  even  though  he  had  left  off  the  bandages. 

"  This  lasted  for  a  whole  year.      The   pain  returned 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  49 

later,  the  compresses  having  been  discontinued  for  many 
months,  and  the  summer  of  1890  having  been  particu- 
larly stormy." 

Here  is  another  very  peculiar  dream  in  which  the 
author  was  perfectly  convinced  that  he  had  suggested  a 
dream  to  himself;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  had  the 
perception  of  a  real  fact  which  he  could  not  previously 
have  known. 

This  incident  is  narrated  in  the  Report  of  the  Dialectical 
Society  of  London,  and  was  given  by  Mr.  Cromwell  Varley, 
F.R.S.,  the  electrician  for  the  Atlantic  Cable  Company. 

"  I  had  to  catch  the  steamer  "  (says  Mr.  Varley)  "  that 
went  early  the  next  morning  and  was  fearful  of  not  waking 
in  time,  but  I  employed  a  plan  which  had  often  proved  suc- 
cessful before,  viz.,  that  of  willing  strongly  that  I  should 
wake  at  the  proper  time.  Morning  came  and  I  saw  myself 
in  bed  fast  asleep  ;  I  tried  to  wake  myself  but  could  not. 
After  a  while  I  found  myself  hunting  about  for  some  means 
of  more  power,  when  I  saw  a  yard  in  which  was  a  large 
stack  of  timber  and  two  men  approaching ;  they  ascended 
the  stack  of  timber  and  lifted  a  heavy  plank.  It  occurred 
to  me  to  make  my  body  dream  that  there  was  a  bomb- 
shell thrown  in  front  of  me  which  was  fizzing  at  the 
touch-hole,  and  Avhen  the  men  threw  the  plank  down  I 
made  my  body  dream  that  the  bomb  had  burst  and  cut 
open  my  face.  It  woke  me,  but  with  a  clear  recollection 
of  the  two  actions — one,  the  intelligent  mind  acting  upon 
the  brain  in  the  body,  which  could  be  made  to  believe  any 
ridiculous  impression  that  the  former  produced  by  will- 
power. I  did  not  allow  a  second  to  elapse  before  I  leapt  out 
of  bed,  opened  the  window,  and  there  were  the  yard,  the 
timber,  and  the  two  men,  just  as  my  spirit  had  seen  them. 
I  had  no  previous  knowledge  at  all  of  the  locality  ;  it  was 
dark  the  previous  evening  when  I  entered  the  town,  and 
I  did  not  even  know  there  was  a  yard  there  at  all.  It  was 
evident  I  had  seen  these  things  while  my  body  lay  asleep. 
I  could  not  see  the  timber  until  the  window  had  been 
opened." 

I  will  quote  another  example  of  suggested  dream.     In 

D 


50  PSYCHICAL   PHExNOMENA 

this  case  it  will  be  seen  that  on  the  occasion  of  the 
suggestive  dream,  a  real  phenomenon  of  lucidity  was 
developed. 

This  narrative  is  reported  by  Dr.  du  Prel  in  his  Ex- 
2oeriinental  Psychology. 

"  I  asked  M.  Notzing  of  Munich "  (he  writes),  "  our 
hypnotiser  in  the  experiments  carried  out  with  Mdlle. 
Lina,  to  make  this  experiment :  to  give  to  Mdlle.  Lina, 
when  hypnotised,  the  post-hypnotic  command,  to  dream 
of  a  certain  person  on  the  following  night,  to  place  herself 
en  rapport  with  her,  not  to  forget  the  dream,  and  to  relate 
it  on  the  following  day. 

"  This  post-hypnotic  order  therefore  implied  a  transcen- 
dental psychological  function  in  the  domain  of  imagina- 
tion, the  accomplishment  of  which  was  postponed  until 
the  time  of  normal  sleep.  I  had  some  reason  to  believe 
that  the  experiment  would  be  successful,  because  hallu- 
cinations can  be  produced  even  in  the  waking  state  by 
post-hypnotic  commands.  A  dream  being  fundamentally 
nothing  but  a  succession  of  hallucinations,  it  is  clear  that 
a  post-hypnotic  hallucination  may  be  referred  also  to  the 
time  of  normal  sleep,  and  be  produced  even  more  easily  in 
that  condition. 

"But,  as  personal  confidence  ought  not  to  play  any 
part  in  scientific  experiments,  and  the  development  of 
the  experiment  alone  ought  to  bring  conviction,  I  left  the 
choice  of  a  person  who  should  be  the  subject  of  the  dream 
to  the  experimenters,  because  malevolent  sceptics  might 
have  objected  that  I  had  planned  the  thing  with  Lina. 

"  Those,  therefore,  who  made  this  experiment  caused 
the  command  to  be  given  to  Lina  to  dream  on  the  follow- 
ing night  of  M.  F.  L.    Lina  had  never  seen  him,  and  knew 
nothing  of  the  place  where  he  lived.     This  post-hypnotic 
I  order  therefore  implied  a  hallucination  necessitating  for 
I  its  production  a  transcendental  faculty — clairvoyance. 

"  The  experiment  succeeded  completely.  Lina  Avas 
invited  for  the  following  afternoon  to  the  house  of  one  of 
the  experimenters  ;  she  came  and  related,  as  an  astonishing 
and  inexplicable  thing,  that  she  had  dreamed  all  night  of 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  51 

M.  F.  L.  She  described  exactly  his  personality,  giving 
various  details  as  to  his  manner  of  talking,  his  dress,  &c. 
She  had  seen  him  resting  in  an  armchair  in  front  of  a 
villa,  she  spoke  of  the  view  that  could  be  seen  from  the 
roof  of  the  house  over  a  lake,  of  a  neighbouring  wood,  of 
the  presence  of  a  black  St.  Bernard  dog,  &c.  All  this 
might,  it  is  true,  have  been  in  the  imagination  of  the 
experimenters;  and,  if  it  be  insisted  upon,  I  admit  that 
the  hypothesis  of  thought-transmission  is  possible.  But 
Lina  also  said — what  none  of  the  experimenters  knew — 
that  there  were  some  young  dogs  in  the  villa,  which 
was  confirmed  later  on.  She  then  stated  that  M.  F.  L. 
had  under  his  care  a  lady  whom  she  described :  this 
description  did  not  correspond  at  all  with  his  wife,  but 
with  a  friend  of  the  family  to  whom  it  was  recognised  as 
applying. 

"  Lina's  dream  evidently  did  not  correspond  with  what 
was  taking  place  at  the  time,  because  M.  F.  L.  did  not  stay 
outside  the  house  during  the  night  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  villa  were  asleep :  therefore,  for  the  production  of  this 
dream,  there  must  have  been  vision  at  a  distance  of  time, 
either  in  the  past,  or  in  the  future. 

"  This  power  of  Lina's  to  see  at  a  distance  of  time  has 
moreover  been  observed  several  times,  and  there  exist  in 
connection  with  this  phenomenon  some  notes  drawn  up 
and  signed,  ante  eventum,  naturally." 

The  preceding  examples  are  sufficient  to  prove  that  we 
ought  not  to  admit  as  correct  the  following  statement  by 
M.  Bergson: — 

"  In  sleep,  properly  so  called,  in  the  sleep  which  affects 
the  whole  of  our  body,  it  is  recollections  and  always  recol- 
lections, which  form  the  web  of  our  dreams." 

Where  can  any  trace  of  remembrances  be  found  in  the 
incidents  we  have  quoted,  which  is  capable  of  explaining 
all  the  circumstances  of  these  dreams  ?  Memory  is  no 
longer  a  sufficient  explanation  to  account  for  the  abnormal 
knowledge  which  is  manifested. 

Some  years  ago,  M.  Lctourneau  published  in  the 
Bulletins  ct  Memoires   de   la   SoeUte  d'anthrojoologie  de 


52  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

Paris  a  singular  theory  as  to  certain  dreams  under  the 
title  of  Ancestral  Dreams. 

The  author  set  forth  in  the  following  terms  the  theory 
of  ancestral  dreams. 

"  Certain  events,  external  or  psychic,  which  have  made 
a  deep  impression  on  a  person,  may  be  so  deeply  engraved 
upon  his  brain  as  to  result  in  a  molecular  orientation, 
so  lasting  that  it  inay  be  transmitted  to  some  of  his 
descendants,  in  the  same  way  as  character,  aptitudes,  mental 
maladies,  &c.  It  is  then  no  longer  a  question  of  infantile 
reminiscences,  but  of  ancestral  recollections,  capable  of 
being  revived.  From  that  will  proceed,  not  only  the 
fortuitous  recognition  of  places  which  a  person  has  never 
seen,  but,  moreover,  a  whole  category  of  peculiar  dreams, 
admirably  co-ordinated,  in  which  we  witness  as  at  a  pano- 
rama, adventures  which  cannot  be  remembrances,  because 
they  have  not  the  least  connection  with  our  individual 
life. 

"  As  an  example  of  this  I  only  know  the  very  curious 
dream  made  public  some  years  ago  by  Abercromby,  and 
which  has  often  been  quoted  in  works  dealing  with  mental 
pathology.  It  relates  to  a  Scotch  property  owner,  who 
was  on  the  point  of  being  ruined  by  being  sued  for  accumu- 
lated arrears  of  a  tithe  payable  to  a  noble  family.  The 
person  upon  whom  the  claim  was  made  was  convinced  that 
the  tithe  in  question  had  been  redeemed  by  his  father  a 
long  time  previously,  but  he  was  not  able  to  furnish  the 
proof.  But,  in  a  dream,  the  father,  who  had  been  dead  for 
several  years,  appeared  to  his  son  and  told  him  all  the 
circumstances  in  connection  with  the  payment  which  he 
had  made  in  the  presence  of  a  solicitor,  whose  name  he 
gave  him,  and  who  had  preserved  the  papers  relating  to 
the  transaction.  But  this  lawyer,  then  a  very  old  man, 
had  completely  forgotten  the  matter  in  question.  The 
interested  party,  however,  brought  it  back  to  his  memory 
by  reminding  him  of  some  incidents  in  connection  with 
the  changing  of  a  Portuguese  gold  piece  of  which  he  had 
been  informed  in  his  dream.  In  consequence,  the  necessary 
papers  were  found,  produced,  and  the  lawsuit  won." 


ABNORMAL  DREAMS  53 

M.  Letourneaii  thus  concludes : — 

"  It  is  therefore  quite  admissible  that  the  detailed 
recollection  of  facts  and  events  that  have  strongly  im- 
pressed a  person,  leave  on  his  brain  an  indelible  imprint, 
hereditarily  transmissible  to  his  descendants,  and  which 
can  be  re- vivified  in  them  during  dream,  when  the  tem- 
porary eclipse  of  the  individuality  leaves  the  consciousness 
with  a  free  field  for  all  latent  traces  of  ancestral  origin. 
This  psychic  basement  of  the  consciousness  may  even 
have  concealed  in  it  other  visual  images  than  those 
revealed  by  dreams. 

"We  may  refer  to  similar  origins  the  change  of  character, 
sometimes  so  complete,which  often  occurs  at  the  moment  of 
death,  as  well  as  the  facts  hitherto  unexplained,  of  '  infant 
prodigies,'  even  certain  deliria  or  certain  kinds  of  insanity. 

"  All  these  singular  and  inexplicable  facts  may  be 
summed  up  in  a  general  proposition  which  Maudsley  has 
thus  formulated  :  '  All  that  the  ancestors  of  a  man  have 
felt,  thought,  and  done,  though  the  man  himself  may  have 
known  nothing  of  them,  certainly  influence  everything 
that  he  will  be  disposed  to  feel,  think,  and  do.' 

"  This  man  has  inherited  convolutions  which  are  ready 
to  resume,  at  certain  epochs  of  his  life,  the  same  kind  of 
activity  that  they  performed  in  his  ancestor." 

In  itself  there  is  certainly  nothing  inadmissible  in  this 
hypothesis,  but  there  is  nothing  to  prove  its  reality ;  it  is, 
therefore,  only  based  on  pure  hypothesis,  the  view  of  a  very 
ingenious  mind,  it  is  true,  but  it  rests  upon  nothing. 

Even  though  it  might  hold  good  for  some  dreams,  it 
would  be  a  poor  explanation  for  some  of  the  abnormal 
dreams  which  we  are  here  studying. 

If  this  theory  can  be  applied  to  certain  dreams,  in 
which  the  subject  has  a  true  perception  of  certain  places 
or  objects,  of  which  he  had  no  personal  knowledge  but 
which  existed  in  the  past  just  as  the  subject  saAv  them  in 
dream :  on  the  other  hand,  this  theory  is  no  more  capable 
than  that  of  memory  of  explaining  dreams  combined  with 
lucidity  in  the  present  or  in  the  future,  when  this  pheno- 
menon of  lucidity  refers  to  accidental  facts,  present  or 


54  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

future  (which  did  not  previously  exist),  as  the  subject 
dreamed  them.  This  class  of  dreams  is  very  numerous 
and  very  important ;  it  includes  not  only  the  dreams  which 
we  have  just  described,  but  also  those  which  we  shall 
study  later  on  in  which  lucidity  is  fully  developed. 

Before  going  further  I  wish  to  mention  here  a  class  of 
dreams,  in  which  we  find  the  subject  manifesting,  in  a 
condition  of  sleep,  knowledge  that  he  did  not  possess  in 
the  waking  state.  This  knowledge  may,  in  truth,  exist 
in  his  sub-consciousness,  but  it  assumes  quite  an  abnormal 
development  owing  to  the  condition  in  which  the  subject 
is  at  the  time. 

The  following  account  is  contributed  by  a  correspon- 
dent to  the  Sphinx  in  the  issue  of  January  1895  : — 

"  In  1881  1  was  in  the  first  class  of  the  School  at 
Wolfenbiittel.  The  professor  of  mathematics  set  us  some 
problems  from  time  to  time,  the  solution  of  which  was 
left  to  us. 

"  Although  I  had  a  certain  capacity  for  mathematics, 
the  problem  one  day  seemed  to  me  impossible  of  solution. 
No  matter  in  what  way  I  began  it,  I  found  myself  con- 
fronted with  the  same  difficulty.  On  the  eve  of  the  day 
for  handing  in  the  solution,  I  impatiently  threw  pen  and 
paper  on  the  table,  went  and  lay  down  and  immediately 
fell  asleep.  I  cannot  now  say  how  long  I  had  been  thus 
lying  down,  but  real  sleep  soon  passed  and  the  following 
vision  began  to  unfold  itself. 

"  There  came  a  thick  and  heavy  cloud  before  my  eyes 
which  seemed  to  become  clearer  by  degrees.  I  soon 
thought  I  was  in  a  larger  room,  and  in  a  few  moments 
I  saw  that  it  was  the  first  class  room  in  the  school.  I 
turned  round  astonished  and  wished  to  leave  it,  but  I 
noticed  to  my  great  alarm,  that  my  feet  were  as  though 
fastened  to  the  floor,  and  it  appeared  to  mc  certain  that 
I  was  passing  through  some  enigmatical  experience. 

"I  bogan  to  ponder  and  to  look  for  some  means  of 
deliverance  from  this  magical  bond :  without  knowing  why, 
I  took  hold  of  my  legs,  which  were  rigid,  Avith  my  right 
hand,  but  stood  upright  again  immediately  on  distinctly 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  55 

seeing  something  dark  pass  before  my  eyes.  I  asked  myself 
what  this  could  be. 

"  I  looked  and  saw  a  dark  nucleus  in  the  thick  cloud 
of  a  moment  ago,  which  since  then  had  condensed  and 
seemed  to  be  only  about  three  yards  away  from  me. 

"  My  eyes  were  fixed  upon  it  for  some  time,  until, 
finally,  weary  of  my  embarrassing  position,  I  began  to 
cudgel  my  brains  how  to  put  an  end  to  it.  These  re- 
flections were,  however,  unnecessary  as  I  suddenly  found 
I  could  move  my  legs.  My  joy  was  great !  I  had  my 
liberty  again !  I  ran  quickly  to  the  door,  but  there  an 
unspeakable  horror  came  over  me :  I  had  lost  my  right 
hand  !  I  was  seized  with  a  deep  despair,  thinking  of  my 
parents  who  for  so  many  years  had  deprived  themselves 
in  order  that  I  might  pursue  my  studies. 

"  Disheartened,  I  drew  back  from  the  door,  asking 
myself  if  I  could,  in  these  circumstances,  return  home  or 
not.  While  this  was  going  on,  I  had  drawn  closer  to  the 
window,  hoping  to  be  able  to  call  some  one  to  my  help : 
in  this  movement  I  brushed  up  against  the  black-board, 
and  I  noticed  that  the  cloud  had  now  begun  to  concentrate 
itself  on  the  top  left-hand  corner  of  the  board. 

"  Not  seeing  any  one  at  the  window  I  came  back  to 
look  at  this  extraordinary  cloud  on  the  black-board,  and 
at  that  moment  it  opened  and  showed  a  man's  hand  with 
outlines  at  first  indistinct,  but  becoming  gradually  clearer. 
I  stared  hard  at  it  and  saw  that  it  was  my  own  hand,  and 
I  attentively  followed  its  movements,  which  were  all  the 
more  distinct  as  the  daylight  had  returned  in  the  interval. 

"  The  lines  formed  themselves  distinctly  one  after 
another,  and  I  could  see  how,  out  of  this  apparent  chaos, 
there  was  sketched  an  analytical  presentation  of  my 
mathematical  problem.  Then  the  hand  was  again  lowered, 
and  drew  the  geometrical  construction  of  the  problem. 
Immediately  afterwards  it  went  up  higher  and  began  to 
write,  setting  out  the  calculation  letter  by  letter  and  line 
by  line  :  in  a  word,  it  gave  the  mathematical  proof  that  the 
geometrical  construction  corresponded  with  the  analysis, 
and  thus  the  problem  was  solved. 


56  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  The  designs,  letters,  and  figures  were  set  forth  in  lines 
of  fire,  and  were  deeply  impressed  upon  my  memory. 

"  After  setting  down  the  last  point,  the  hand  dis- 
appeared from  the  black-board  with  lightning  speed  and 
I  felt  a  sharp  pain  in  my  arm  :  my  hand  was  again  joined 
to  it.  I  uttered  a  cry  of  pain,  and  awoke,  but,  to  my  great 
surprise,  in  an  altogether  different  place. 

"  My  head  seemed  to  be  as  heavy  as  lead,  but  I  realised 
that  I  had  seen  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  this  dream. 
I  immediately  went  into  my  room,  took  pen  and  paper, 
and  wrote  down  what  I  had  seen :  then  I  lay  down  and 
slept  peacefully  for  several  hours.  On  awaking  nothing 
seemed  clear  to  me,  and  everything  was  like  a  dream. 

"  But  how  can  I  describe  my  astonishment  when  my 
parents  asked  me  why  I  had  got  up  in  the  night  and 
come  into  their  room,  and  why  I  had  not  replied  to  them  ! 

"  I  was  so  little  certain  of  anything  that  I  should  have 
protested  if  I  had  not  seen,  at  the  same  moment,  on  the 
piano,  as  a  certain  proof,  the  mathematical  calculation. 
I  did  not  even  look  at  it,  for  what  could  there  be  that 
was  rational  in  this  lucubration  of  slumber  ?  The  whole 
adventure  began  to  amuse  me,  and  I  laughed  heartily  at 
it ;  but  this  laugh  quickly  stopped,  because  what  I  thought 
I  had  written  in  the  intoxication  of  sleep  was  absolutely 
correct,  and  you  may  imagine  how  joyfully  I  set  out  for 
the  school." 

This  class  of  dreams  proves  the  justice  of  the  theory 
I  have  put  forward,  which  makes  of  the  dream  an  auto- 
suggestion or  a  suggestion,  and  brings  it  within  the 
category  of  hypnotic  phenomena.  If  you  will  compare 
the  preceding  fact  with  the  observation  I  have  made 
in  my  Traite  de  I'hypnotifune  experimental  et  therapeii- 
tique,  in  the  chapter  on  suggestion,  page  70,  you  will 
see  that  by  hypnotic  suggestion  I  have  made  a  student 
solve  an  algebraical  problem,  the  solution  of  which  he 
could  not  find  when  in  a  waking  state.  The  connection 
between  these  two  facts  is  evident :  the  one  took  place  in 
hypnotic  sleep,  under  the  iufiuence  of  suggestion ;  the 
other  in  spontaneous  sleep,  under  the  influence  of  dream. 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  57 

There  is  still  another  class  of  dream  in  which  the 
faculty  of  lucidity  appears  to  be  completely  developed. 
In  these  cases  we  likewise  observe  that  the  lucidity  presents 
the  same  characteristics  as  somnambulistic  lucidity. 

We  have  at  first  the  cases  in  which  the  lucidity  of  the 
dream  harmonises  with  existing  things,  but  of  which  the 
subject  can  have  no  knowledge  by  normal  means. 

In  these  first  cases,  we  see  that  the  subject  perceives 
in  dream  things  which  directly  concern  him,  but  are  not 
of  a  tragic  character,  such  as  danger  of  a  serious  accident 
or  of  something  that  threatens  his  life. 

The  first  case  is  taken  from  the  Journal  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  for  October  1889. 

"  On  reaching  Morley's  Hotel  at  five  o'clock  on  Tues- 
day, January  29th,  1889,"  says  the  writer  (Mrs.  A.  M. 
Bickford  Smith),  "  I  missed  a  gold  brooch,  which  I  sup- 
posed I  had  left  in  a  fitting-room  at  Swan  and  Edgar's. 
I  sent  there  at  once,  but  was  very  disappointed  to  hear 
that  after  a  diligent  search  they  could  not  find  the  brooch. 
I  was  much  vexed,  and  worried  about  the  brooch,  and  that 
night  dreamed  that  I  should  find  it  shut  up  in  a  number 
of  the  Queen  newspaper  that  had  been  on  the  table,  and 
in  my  dream  I  saw  the  very  page  where  it  would  be.  I 
had  noticed  one  of  the  plates  on  the  page.  Directly  after 
breakfast  I  went  to  Swan  and  Edgar's  and  asked  to  see 
the  papers,  at  the  same  time  telling  the  young  ladies 
about  the  dream,  and  where  I  had  seen  the  brooch.  The 
papers  had  been  moved  from  that  room,  but  were  found, 
and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  young  ladies,  I  said,  '  This 
is  the  one  that  contains  my  brooch,'  and  there  at  the 
very  page  I  expected  I  found  it." 

"  We  received  a  substantially  similar  account  from 
Mrs.  Bickford  Smith's  brother-in-law,  Mr.  H.  A.  Smith, 
who  was  a  witness  of  the  trouble  taken  to  find  the  brooch, 
both  at  the  hotel,  and  by  sending  to  Swan  and  Edgar's, 
on  the  previous  evening." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mrs.  Bickford  Smith  did  not 
herself  make  the  first  search.  If  she  had  returned  to 
Swan  and  Edgar's  before  the  dream  it  is  possible  that  the 


58  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

sight  of  the  papers  on  the  table  would  have  revived  some 
memories  of  the  sight  of  the  brooch  between  the  leaves 
of  the  Queen.  In  spite  of  this  we  can  regard  the  case 
as  a  phenomenon  of  the  sub-conscious  mind.  It  is  none 
the  less  interesting  because  of  the  precision  of  the  dream. 

The  following  account  is  given  by  Mr.  Myers  in  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  The 
story  was  told  by  a  lady  to  Professor  Royce  of  Harvard. 

"  A  number  of  years  ago  I  was  invited  to  visit  a  friend 
who  lived  at  a  large  and  beautiful  country-seat  on  the 
Hudson.  Shortly  after  my  arrival  I  started,  with  a 
number  of  other  guests,  to  make  a  tour  of  the  very 
extensive  grounds.  We  walked  for  an  hour  or  more, 
and  very  thoroughly  explored  the  place.  Upon  my 
return  to  the  house  I  discovered  that  I  had  lost  a  gold 
cuff-stud,  that  I  valued  for  association's  sake.  I  merely 
remembered  that  I  wore  it  when  we  started  out,  and  did 
not  think  of  or  notice  it  again  until  my  return,  when  it 
was  missing.  As  it  was  quite  dark,  it  seemed  useless 
to  search  for  it,  especially  as  it  was  the  season  of  autumn 
and  the  ground  was  covered  with  dead  leaves.  That 
night  I  dreamed  that  I  saw  a  withered  grape-vine  clinging 
to  a  wall,  with  a  pile  of  dead  leaves  at  the  root.  Under- 
neath the  leaves,  in  my  dream,  I  distinctly  saw  my  stud 
gleaming.  The  following  morning  I  asked  the  friends 
with  whom  I  had  been  walking  the  previous  afternoon 
if  they  remembered  seeing  any  such  wall  and  vine,  as  I 
did  not.  They  replied  that  they  could  not  recall  any- 
thing answering  the  description.  I  did  not  tell  them  why 
I  asked,  as  I  felt  somewhat  ashamed  of  the  dream,  but 
during  the  morning  I  made  some  excuse  to  go  out  in 
the  grounds  alone.  I  walked  hither  and  thither,  and 
after  a  long  time  I  suddenly  came  upon  the  wall  and  vine 
exactly  as  they  looked  in  my  dream.  I  had  not  the 
slightest  recollection  of  seeing  them  or  passing  by  them 
on  the  previous  day.  The  dead  leaves  at  the  root  were 
lying  heaped  up,  as  in  my  dream.  I  approached  cautiously, 
feeling  rather  uncomfortable  and  decidedly  silly,  and 
pushed  them  aside.     I  had  scattered  a  large  number  of 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  59 

the  leaves  when  a  gleam  of  gold  struck  my  eye,  and  there 
lay  the  stud,  exactly  as  in  my  dream." 

Here  is  another  case  in  which  the  importance  of  the 
vision  perceived  in  dream  was  much  greater,  because 
it  might  have  resulted  in  an  accident ;  but  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  particular  object  to  which  the  dream 
referred  was  not  specially  present  in  the  subject's  mind 
immediately  before  the  dream,  as  was  the  case  in  the 
preceding  instance.  This  case  is  related  by  Col.  Reynolds 
of  Cheltenham,  an  excellent  witness. 

"  About  the  year  1870  I  was  in  charge  of  a  length  of 
roadway,  together  with  the  bridges  large  and  small  that 
carried  it.  Sometimes  there  were  floods  which  endangered 
the  bridges,  and  I  was  therefore  always  on  the  look-out 
to  prevent  serious  damage  which  would  have  impeded 
the  traffic.  At  the  same  time  this  had  been  my  daily 
life  for  so  long  that  no  anxiety  remained  in  my  mind 
about  it.  I  regarded  my  duties  as  merely  routine  work. 
I  was  in  a  fairly  good  state  of  health.  One  night  I  dreamt 
in  a  most  vivid  manner  that  I  saw  an  exact  picture  of 
a  certain  small  bridge.  All  the  surroundings  were  com- 
plete, and  left  no  doubt  as  to  which  bridge  it  was.  A 
voice  at  the  same  moment  said  to  me :  '  Go  and  look 
at  that  bridge.'  This  was  said  distinctly  three  times. 
In  the  morning  the  dream  still  persisted  in  my  mind, 
and  so  impressed  me  that  I  rode  off  at  once  about  six 
miles  to  the  bridge.  Nothing  was  to  be  seen  out  of  the 
ordinary.  The  small  stream  was,  however,  coming  down  in 
flood.  On  walking  into  the  water  I  found  to  my  astonish- 
ment that  the  foundations  of  the  bridge  had  been  entirely 
undermined  and  washed  away.  It  was  a  marvel  that 
it  was  still  standing.  Of  course,  the  work  necessary  to 
preserve  the  bridge  was  done.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
but  for  the  dream  the  bridge  would  have  fallen,  as  there 
was  no  reason  whatever  to  attract  my  attention  specially 
to  this  bridge.  Though  small,  the  bridge  was  an  important 
one,  as  its  situation  was  peculiar.  The  picture  that  was 
dreamt  was  so  strong  that  it  is  even  now  fixed  in  my 
mind  as  plainly  almost  as  it  was  then." 


60  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Wc  now  come  to  the  study  of  premonitory  dreams, 
that  is  to  say,  dreams  which  exhibit  the  faculty  of  hicidity 
in  the  future. 

We  will,  by  way  of  transition,  quote  a  case  in  which 
the  fact  dreamed  of  is  subsequent  to  the  dream,  but  the 
idea  of  it  probably  existed  before  the  dream.  This  case 
can  therefore  be  regarded  either  as  a  case  of  lucidity  as 
regards  the  present  or  of  lucidity  in  reference  to  the  future. 

The  narrative  is  taken  from  Mrs.  Crowe's  Night  Side 
of  Nature. 

A  gentleman  engaged  in  business  in  the  South  of 
Scotland,  dreams  that  on  entering  his  office  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  sees  seated  on  a  certain  stool  a  person  formerly 
in  his  service  as  clerk,  of  whom  he  had  neither  heard 
nor  thought  for  some  time.  He  inquires  the  motive  of 
the  visit,  and  is  told  that  since  such  and  such  circum- 
stances had  brought  the  stranger  to  that  part  of  the 
country,  he  could  not  forbear  visiting  his  old  quarters, 
expressing,  at  the  same  time,  a  wish  to  spend  a  few  days 
in  his  former  occupation,  &c.  &c.  The  gentleman  being 
struck  with  the  vividness  of  the  illusion  relates  his  dream 
at  breakfast,  and,  to  his  surprise,  on  going  to  his  office, 
there  sits  the  man,  and  the  dialogue  that  ensues  is 
precisely  that  of  the  dream. 

In  the  premonitory  dreams  which  follow  a  grave 
danger  threatens  a  person,  and  the  dream  is  a  warning 
which  enables  the  danger  to  be  avoided.  In  short,  the 
dream  is  not  realised,  but  the  circumstances  are  such 
that  we  can  presume  that  the  event  dreamed  of  would 
actually  have  happened  if  the  subjects  had  not  had 
the  warning  which  enabled  them  to  modify  their  plans. 
These  records  are  also  taken  from  Mrs.  Crowe's  well- 
known  work : — 

A  butcher  named  Bone,  residing  at  Holytown,  dreamt, 
a  few  years  since,  that  he  was  stopped  at  a  particular  spot 
on  his  way  to  market,  whither  he  was  going  on  the  follow- 
ing day  to  purchase  cattle,  by  two  men  in  blue  clothes, 
who  cut  his  throat.  He  told  the  dream  to  his  Avife,  who 
laughed  at  him,  but  as  it  was  repeated  two  or  three  times, 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  61 

and  she  saw  that  he  was  really  alarmed,  she  advised  him 
to  join  somebody  who  was  going  along  the  same  road.  He 
accordingly  listened  till  he  heard  a  cart  passing  his  door, 
and  then  went  out  and  joined  the  man,  telling  him  the 
reason  for  so  doing.  When  they  came  to  the  spot,  there 
actually  stood  the  two  men  in  blue  clothes,  who,  seeing 
he  was  not  alone,  took  to  their  heels  and  ran. 

Now,  although  the  dream  was  here  probably  the 
means  of  saving  Bone's  life,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
this  a  case  of  what  is  called  supernatural  intervention. 
The  phenomenon  would  be  sufficiently  accounted  for  by 
the  admission  of  the  hypothesis  I  have  suggested,  namely, 
that  he  was  aware  of  the  impending  danger  in  his  sleep, 
and  had  been  able,  from  some  cause  unknown  to  us,  to 
carry  the  recollection  into  his  waking  state. 

The  following  case  presents  this  peculiar  feature,  that 
the  dream  happens,  not  to  the  person  threatened  by  danger, 
but  to  some  one  else. 

The  danger  was  again  avoided  by  the  precautions  which 
were  taken  through  the  dream ;  as  to  the  reality  of  the 
danger  avoided  and  the  exactitude  of  the  dream,  they  are 
still  better  proved  in  this  instance  than  in  the  former  one. 

"A  circumstance  of  a  similar  kind  to  the  above  occurred 
in  a  well-known  family  in  Scotland,  the  Rutherfords 
of  E . 

"  A  lady  dreamt  that  her  aunt,  who  resided  at  some 
distance,  was  murdered  by  a  black  servant.  Impressed 
with  the  vividness  of  the  vision,  she  could  not  resist  going 
to  the  house  of  her  relation,  when  the  man  she  had  dreamt 
of,  whom  I  think  she  had  never  before  seen,  opened  the 
door  to  her.  Upon  this,  she  induced  a  gentleman  to  watch 
in  the  adjoining  room  during  the  night ;  and,  towards 
morning,  hearing  a  foot  upon  the  stairs,  he  opened  the 
door,  and  discovered  the  black  servant  carrying  up  a  coal- 
scuttle full  of  coals,  for  the  purpose,  as  he  said,  of  lighting 
his  mistress's  fire.  As  this  motive  did  not  seem  very 
probable,  the  coals  were  examined  and  a  knife  found 
hidden  amongst  them,  with  which,  he  afterwards  con- 
sessed,  he  intended  to  have  murdered  his  mistress,  pro- 


62  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

vided  she  made  any  resistance  to  a  design  he  had  formed, 
of  robbing  her  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  which  he  was 
aware  she  had  that  day  received." 

The  two  following  cases  also  refer  to  dreams  premonitory 
of  danger,  but  the  fact  foreshadowed  by  the  dream  is 
exactly  realised. 

"A  professional  gentleman,  whose  name  would  be  a 
warrant  for  the  truth  of  whatever  he  relates,  told  me  the 
following  circumstance  regarding  himself.  He  was,  not 
very  long  since,  at  the  sea-side  with  his  family,  and  amongst 
the  rest,  he  had  with  him  one  of  his  sons,  a  boy  about 
twelve  years  of  age,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  bathing  daily, 
his  father  accompanying  him  to  the  water-side.  This 
practice  had  continued  during  the  whole  of  their  visit, 
and  no  idea  of  danger  or  accident  had  ever  occurred  to 
anybody.  On  the  day  preceding  the  one  appointed  for 
their  departure,  Mr.  H.,  the  gentleman  in  question,  felt 
himself,  after  breakfast,  surprised  by  an  unusual  drowsi- 
ness, which  he  vainly  struggled  to  overcome,  and  at 
length  fell  asleep  in  his  chair.  He  then  dreamt  that  he 
was  attending  his  son  to  the  beach  as  usual,  when  he  sud- 
denly saw  the  boy  drowning,  and  himself  rushed  into 
the  water,  dressed  as  he  was,  and  brought  him  ashore. 
Though  he  w\as  quite  conscious  of  the  dream  when  he 
awoke,  he  attached  no  importance  to  it ;  he  considered  it 
merely  a  dream,  and  nothing  more ;  and  when,  some  hours 
afterwards,  the  boy  came  into  the  room  and  said,  '  Now, 
father,  it's  time  to  go ;  this  will  be  the  last  bathe ; '  his 
morning's  vision  did  not  even  recur  to  him.  They  walked 
down  to  the  sea  as  usual,  and  the  boy  went  into  the  water, 
whilst  the  father  stood  composedly  watching  him  from  the 
beach,  when  suddenly  the  child  lost  his  footing,  a  wave 
having  caught  him,  and  the  danger  of  his  being  carried 
away  was  so  imminent,  that  without  even  waiting  to 
take  off  his  greatcoat,  boots,  or  hat,  Mr.  H.  rushed  into 
the  water,  and  was  only  just  in  time  to  save  his  son." 

The  second  case  is  quoted  by  the  same  author. 

"  Mr.  D.,  of  Cumberland,  when  a  youth,  came  to  Edin- 
burgh, for  the  purpose  of  attending  college,  and  was  placed 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  63 

under  the  care  of  his  uncle  and  aunt,  Major  and  Mrs. 
Griffiths,  who  then  resided  in  the  castle.  When  the  fine 
weather  came,  the  young  man  was  in  the  habit  of 
making  frequent  excursions  with  others  of  his  own  age  and 
pursuits ;  and  one  afternoon  he  mentioned  that  they  had 
formed  a  fishing  party,  and  had  bespoken  a  boat  for  the 
ensuing  day.  No  objections  were  made  to  this  plan  ;  but 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  Mrs.  Griffiths  screamed  out, 
'  The  boat  is  sinking !  Oh,  save  them  ! '  Her  husband 
said,  he  supposed  she  had  been  thinking  of  the  fishing 
party;  but  she  declared  she  had  never  thought  about  it  at 
all,  and  soon  fell  asleep  again.  But  before  long  she  awoke 
a  second  time,  crying  out  that  she  '  saw  the  boat  sinking  ! 
It  must  have  been  the  remains  of  the  impression  made  by 
the  other  dream,'  she  suggested  to  her  husband,  'for  I 
have  no  uneasiness  whatever  about  the  fishing  party ; ' 
but  on  going  to  sleep  once  more,  her  husband  was  again 
disturbed  by  her  cries  :  '  They  are  gone  ! '  she  said ;  '  the 
boat  has  sunk ! '  She  now  really  became  alarmed,  and 
without  waiting  for  morning  she  threw  on  her  dressing- 
gown  and  went  to  Mr.  D.,  who  was  still  in  bed,  and  whom 
with  much  difficulty  she  persuaded  to  relinquish  his  pro- 
posed excursion.  He  consequently  sent  his  servant  to  Leith 
with  an  excuse,  and  the  party  embarked  without  him.  The 
day  was  extremely  fine  when  they  put  to  sea;  but  some  hours 
afterwards  a  storm  arose,  in  which  the  boat  foundered ;  nor 
did  any  one  of  the  number  survive  to  tell  the  tale." 

In  the  examples  which  we  have  just  considered  the 
subject  saw  in  a  dream  the  vision  of  the  event  which 
was  afterwards  realised.  Here  is  a  further  instance,  also 
from  the  same  author,  of  a  slightly  different  character. 

"  One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  warning  that 
has  come  to  my  knowledge  is  that  of  Mr.  M.  of  Kings- 
borough.  This  gentleman,  being  on  a  voyage  to  America, 
dreamt  one  night  that  a  little  old  man  came  into  his  cabin 
and  said,  '  Get  up  !  Your  life  is  in  danger ! '  Upon  which 
Mr.  M.  awoke ;  but  considering  it  only  to  be  a  dream,  he  soon 
composed  himself  to  sleep  again.  The  dream,  however,  if 
such  it  were,  recurred,  and  the  old  man  urged  him  still 


64  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

more  strongly  to  get  up  directly;  but  he  still  persuaded 
himself  it  was  only  a  dream ;  and  after  listening  a  few 
minutes,  and  hearing  nothing  to  alarm  him,  he  turned 
round,  and  addressed  himself  once  more  to  sleep.  But 
now  the  old  man  appeared  again,  and  angrily  bade  him 
rise  instantly,  and  take  his  gun  and  ammunition  with  him, 
for  he  had  not  a  moment  to  lose.  The  injunction  was  so 
distinct  that  Mr.  M.  felt  he  could  no  longer  resist  it ;  so  he 
hastily  dressed  himself,  took  his  gun,  and  ascended  to  the 
deck  where  he  had  scarcely  arrived,  when  the  ship  struck 
on  a  rock,  which  he  and  several  others  contrived  to  reach. 
The  place,  however,  was  uninhabited,  and  but  for  his 
gun,  they  would  never  have  been  able  to  provide  them- 
selves with  food  till  a  vessel  arrived  to  their  relief." 

In  this  instance  there  is  a  premonition,  through  the. 
dream,  of  an  undefined  danger.  The  dream  plainly  in- 
dicates to  the  subject  that  a  danger  threatens  him,  but  he 
is  not  shown  the  scene  which  is  to  be  enacted. 

Another  peculiar  feature  is  to  be  noticed  in  this  dream  : 
the  vision,  seen  in  dream,  gives  the  order  to  the  subject  to 
take  his  gun  and  ammunition.  The  event  proved  in  the 
end  that  it  was  entirely  to  the  subject's  interest  to  obey 
that  order.  This  thought  of  taking  arms  was  not,  under  the 
circumstances,  the  natural  corollary  of  the  presentiment  of 
a  danger.  There  seems,  therefore,  to  be  in  this  dream  some- 
thing more  than  a  premonition  due  to  a  single  presentiment. 

There  are  also  dreams  which  really  present  the  char- 
acter of  lucidity,  although  the  scene  perceived  by  the 
dreamer  is  not  realised.  The  features  of  the  scene  are 
sufhcient  to  make  known  to  him  a  fact  that  is  true :  the 
intervention  of  the  subject,  mainly  on  account  of  the  vision 
seen  in  dream,  turns  aside  the  danger  which  menaced  him. 

"  A  very  remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  of  dreaming 
occurred  a  few  years  since  to  Mr.  A.  F.,  an  eminent  Scotch 
advocate,  whilst  staying  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Loch 
Fyne,  who  dreamt  one  night  that  he  saw  a  number  of 
people  in  the  street  following  a  man  to  the  scaffold.  He 
perceived  the  features  of  the  criminal  in  the  cart  distinctly, 
and,  for  some  reason  or  other,  which  he  could  not  account 


ABNORMAL   DREAMS  65 

for,  felt  an  extraordinary  interest  in  his  fate,  insomuch 
that  he  joined  the  throng,  and  accompanied  him  to  the 
phxce  that  was  to  terminate  his  earthly  career.  This 
interest  was  the  more  unaccountable  as  the  man  had 
an  exceedingly  unprepossessing  countenance,  but  it  was, 
nevertheless,  so  vivid,  as  to  induce  the  dreamer  to  ascend 
the  scaffold  and  address  him  with  a  view  to  enable  him 
to  escape  the  impending  catastrophe.  Suddenly,  however, 
whilst  he  was  talking  to  him,  the  whole  scene  dissolved, 
and  the  sleeper  awoke.  Being  a  good  deal  struck  with 
the  life-like  reality  of  the  vision,  and  the  impression 
made  on  his  mind  by  the  features  of  this  man,  he  related 
the  circumstance  to  his  friends  at  breakfast,  adding  that 
he  should  know  him  anywhere,  if  he  saw  him.  A  few 
jests  being  made  on  the  subject,  the  thing  was  forgotten. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  advocate  was 
informed  that  two  men  wanted  to  speak  to  him,  and  on 
going  into  the  hall  he  was  struck  with  amazement  at  per- 
ceiving that  one  of  them  was  the  hero  of  his  dream  !  '  We 
are  accused  of  murder,'  said  they,  '  and  we  wish  to  consult 
you.  Three  of  us  went  out  last  night  in  a  boat,  an  accident 
has  happened,  our  comrade  is  drowned,  and  they  want  to 
make  us  accountable  for  him.'  The  advocate  then  put 
some  interrogations  to  them,  and  the  result  produced  in 
his  mind  by  their  answers  was  a  conviction  of  their  guilt. 
Probably  the  recollection  of  his  dream  rendered  the  effect 
of  this  conviction  more  palpable,  for,  one  addressing  the 
other,  said  in  Gaelic,  '  We  have  come  to  the  wrong  man ; 
he  is  against  us.' 

" '  There  is  a  higher  power  than  I  against  you,'  returned 
the  gentleman,  '  and  the  only  advice  I  can  give  you  is,  if 
you  are  guilty,  fly  immediately.'  Upon  this  they  went 
away,  and  the  next  thing  he  heard  was  that  they  were 
taken  into  custody  on  suspicion  of  the  murder. 

"  The  account  of  the  affair  given  was,  that  the  three 
had  gone  out  together  on  the  preceding  evening,  and 
that  in  the  morning  the  body  of  one  of  them  had 
been  found  on  the  shore,  with  a  cut  across  his  forehead. 
The  father  and  friends  of  the  victim  had  waited  on  the 

E 


66  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

banks  of  -the  lake  till  the  boat  came  in,  and  then  de- 
manded their  companion,  of  whom,  however,  they  pro- 
fessed themselves  unable  to  give  any  account.  Upon  this 
the  old  man  led  them  to  his  cottage  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  them  the  body  of  his  son.  One  entered,  and,  at 
the  sight  of  it,  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears,  the  other 
refused  to  step  over  the  threshold,  saying  his  business 
called  him  immediately  home,  and  went  sulkily  away. 
This  last  was  the  man  seen  in  the  dream. 

"  After  a  fortnight's  incarceration  the  former  of  these 
was  liberated,  and  he  then  declared  to  the  advocate  his 
intention  of  bringing  an  action  for  damages  for  false 
imprisonment.  He  was  advised  not  to  do  it.  'Leave 
well  alone,'  said  the  lawyer  ;  '  and  if  you'll  take  my  advice 
make  off  while  you  can.'  The  man,  however,  refused  to 
fly:  he  declared  that  he  really  did  not  know  what  had 
occasioned  the  death  of  his  comrade.  The  latter  had 
been  at  one  end  of  the  boat  and  he  at  the  other ;  when 
he  looked  round  he  was  gone,  but  whether  he  had  fallen 
overboard  and  cut  his  head  as  he  fell,  or  whether  he  had 
been  struck  and  pushed  into  the  water,  he  did  not  know. 
The  advocate  finally  became  satisfied  of  the  man's  in- 
nocence ;  but  the  authorities  thinking  it  absurd  to  try 
one  and  not  the  other,  again  laid  hands  on  him,  and  it 
fell  to  Mr.  A.  F.  to  be  the  defender  of  both.  The  diffi- 
culty was  not  to  separate  their  cases  in  his  pleading,  for 
however  morally  convinced  of  the  different  ground  on 
which  they  stood,  his  duty,  professionally,  was  to  obtain 
the  acquittal  of  both,  in  which  he  finally  succeeded  as 
regarding  the  charge  of  murder.  They  were  therefore 
sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  and  so  far  as  the 
dream  is  concerned  here  ends  the  story.  There  remains, 
however,  a  curious  sequel  to  it. 

"  A  few  years  afterwards,  the  same  gentleman  being 
in  a  boat  on  Loch  Fyne,  in  company  with  Sir  T.  O.  L., 
happened  to  be  mentioning  these  curious  circumstances, 
when  one  of  the  boatsmen  said,  that  he  'knew  well  about 
those  two  men ;  and  that  a  very  strange  thing  had 
occurred  in  regard  to  one  of  them.'     This  one,  on  inquiry, 


ABNORMAL    DREAMS  67 

proved  to  be  the  subject  of  the  dream  ;  and  the  strange 
thing  was  this ;  on  being  liberated,  he  had  quitted  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  in  process  of  time  had  gone  to 
Greenock,  and  thence  embarked  in  a  vessel  for  Cork. 
But  the  vessel  seemed  fated  never  to  reach  its  destination, 
one  misfortune  happened  after  another,  till  at  length 
the  sailors  said,  '  This  won't  do ;  there  must  be  a  murderer 
on  board  with  us.' 

"  As  is  usual  where  such  belief  exists  we  draw  three 
times  by  lot,  and  this  man  was  designed  three  times. 
Consequently,  he  was  put  on  shore  and  the  vessel  went  on 
its  way  without  him.     What  became  of  him  is  not  known. 

"It  should  be  noted  that  in  this  dream  the  persons 
concerned  in  the  matter  were  absolutely  unknown  to  the 
subject ;  however,  the  circumstances  which  followed  are 
so  precise  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  reality 
of  the  impression  aroused  by  the  dream." 

We  then  see  that  the  whole  of  this  series  of  abnormal 
dreams  which  I  have  here  quoted  exhibit  all  the  phases 
of  hypnotic  phenomena  which  harmonise  with  auto-sug- 
gestion, suggestion,  thought-transmission,  and  finally  with 
lucidity  exercised,  whether  in  regard  to  the  present  or  to 
the  future. 

There  is  consequently  a  complete  gradation  which  ex- 
hibits in  a  progressive  form  a  phenomenon  which  seems  to 
be  allied  to  hypnotic  phenomena  from  the  most  simple  to 
the  most  complicated  examples. 


CHAPTER  V 

PHENOMENA   OBSERVED  AMONG   THE   ORIENTALS 

We  know  that  a  certain  number  of  phenomena,  which 
seem  to  approximate  to  those  which  we  are  here  study- 
ing, are  very  frequently  observed  in  Oriental  countries  by 
travellers  who  have  reported  these  incidents. 

A  certain  number  of  these  facts  have  been  well 
authenticated,  and  the  personality  of  those  who  have 
reported  them  enables  us  to  regard  them  as  genuine.  In 
order  to  render  our  study  complete,  we  shall  here  quote 
some  which  we  have  selected  from  among  those  which 
have  been  most  carefully  observed. 

Dr.  Nobin  Chander  Paul,  assistant  army  surgeon  in 
India,  published,  a  few  years  ago,  a  theoretical  and  practical 
treatise  on  Yoga.  In  this  treatise,  which  was  published  in 
the  Lotus,  we  find  the  following  information  relative  to 
the  hypnotic  condition. 

"The  Mystical  Hindus  (Yogis)  live  in  underground 
retreats  (Guha) ;  they  abstain  from  salt  in  their  food  and 
are  extremely  particular  as  regards  milk,  which  is  their 
principal  nourishment ;  they  are  night-birds,  and  remain 
indoors  during  the  day ;  their  movements  are  slow  and 
their  manners  lethargic.  They  take  two  postures  called 
Padmasana  and  Sidhasana,  with  a  view  to  breathing  as 
seldom  as  possible.  They  fear  rapid  changes  and  inclem- 
encies of  temperature.  When  the  Yogis  are  able  to  hold 
themselves  for  two  hours  in  the  two  motionless  postures 
of  which  we  have  just  spoken,  they  begin  to  practise 
Pranayama,  a  phase  of  voluntary  trance  characterised  by 
much  perspiration,  trembling  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
body,  and  a  feeling  of  lightness  in  the  animal  economy. 
They  then  practise  Pratyahara,  a  phase  of  auto-magnetism, 
during  which  the  sensory  functions  are  suspended. 

68 


PHENOMENA   AMONG  THE   ORIENTALS     69 

"  Then  they  practise  Dharana,  during  which  phase  the 
sensibility  and  vokmtary  movement  entirely  cease,  while 
the  body  can  remain  in  any  posture  that  may  be  willed. 
It  is  said  that  the  mind  is  quiescent  during  this  phase  of 
voluntary  trance. 

"After  having  attained  to  the  degree  of  Dharana, 
the  cataleptic  state,  the  Yogis  aspire  to  what  they  call 
Hyarana,  a  phase  of  auto-magnetism,  during  which  they 
claim  to  be  surrounded  by  the  bright  light  or  supernal 
electricity  called  Anontajyoti  (two  Sanskrit  words  which 
mean  eternal  or  universally  penetrating  light),  which  they 
say  belongs  to  the  Cosmic  Consciousness.  In  the  state  of 
Dhyana  the  Yogis  are  said  to  be  clairvoyant.  The  Dhyana 
of  the  Yogis  is  the  Trya  Avastha  of  the  Vedantists,  the 
ecstasy  of  doctors,  the  self-contemplation  of  the  German 
magnetisers,  and  the  clairvoyance  of  the  French  philo- 
sophers. The  condition  of  Samadhi  is  the  last  phase  of 
auto-trance.  In  this  state  the  Yogis,  like  the  bats,  the 
hedgehog,  the  hamster,  and  the  dormouse,  acquire  the 
power  of  dispensing  with  food  and  drink, 

"  There  have  been,  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  three 
cases  of  Samadhi,  or  human  hibernation.  The  first  case 
occurred  at  Calcutta,  the  second  at  Jesselmere,  and  the 
third  in  the  Punjab.  I  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  first 
case.  There  are  two  kinds  of  Samadhi,  called  Samprajnata 
and  Asamprajnata.  Colonel  Townshend,  who  could  arrest 
the  movement  of  his  heart  and  of  his  arteries  at  will,  and 
die  or  expire  at  pleasure,  and  then  revive,  was  an  example 
of  Samprajnata  Samadhi,  The  Yogis  of  Jesselmere,  of  the 
Punjab  and  of  Calcutta,  who  entered  upon  a  condition 
similar  to  death  by  swallowing  their  tongue,  and  could 
not  take  up  their  life  again  at  will,  were  examples  of 
Asamprajnata  Samadhi;  they  could  only  be  resuscitated 
with  the  assistance  of  other  people,  who  drew  back  the 
tongue  from  the  larynx,  and  replaced  it  in  its  normal 
position." 

Colonel  Townshend  could,  to  all  appearance,  die  when- 
ever he  pleased ;  his  heart  ceased  to  beat,  there  was  no 
perceptible  respiration,  and  his  whole  frame  became  cold 


70  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

and  rigid  as  death  itself,  the  features  being  shrunk  and 
colourless,  and  the  eyes  glazed  and  ghastly.  He  would 
continue  in  this  state  for  several  hours,  and  then  suddenly 
come  to  life  again,  but  the  revival  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  the  result  of  an  effort  of  will,  or  rather,  we  are 
not  informed  whether  it  was  so  or  not.  Neither  are  we 
told  whether  he  brought  any  recollections  back  with  him, 
nor  how  this  strange  faculty  was  first  developed  or  dis- 
covered— all  very  important  points  and  well  worthy  of 
investigation. 

I  find  from  the  account  of  Dr.  Cheyne,  who  attended 
him,  that  Colonel  Townshend  himself  said  that  he  could 
"  die  or  expire  when  he  pleased ;  and  yet  by  an  effort 
he  could  come  to  life  again."  He  performed  the  experi- 
ment in  the  presence  of  three  medical  men,  one  of  whom 
kept  his  hand  on  his  heart,  another  held  his  wrist,  and 
the  third  placed  a  looking-glass  before  his  lips,  and 
they  found  that  all  traces  of  respiration  and  pulsation 
gradually  ceased,  insomuch  that,  after  consulting  about  his 
condition  for  some  time,  they  were  leaving  the  room,  per- 
suaded that  he  was  really  dead,  when  signs  of  life  appeared, 
and  he  slowly  revived.  He  did  not  die  whilst  repeating 
the  experiment,  as  has  been  sometimes  asserted. 

With  respect  to  the  Dervish  or  Fakir,  an  account  of 
whose  singular  faculty  was,  I  believe,  first  presented  to  the 
public  in  the  Calcutta  papers,  about  nine  or  ten  years  ago  : 
he  had  then  frequently  exhibited  it  for  the  satisfaction  of 
the  natives,  but  subsequently  he  was  put  to  proof  by  some 
of  the  European  officers  and  residents.  Captain  Wade, 
political  agent  at  Loodhiana,  was  present  when  he  was 
disinterred,  ten  months  after  he  had  been  buried  by 
General  Ventura,  in  presence  of  the  Maharajah  and  many 
of  his  principal  Sirdars. 

It  appears  that  the  man  previously  prepared  himself 
by  some  processes  which,  he  stated,  temporarily  annihilate 
the  power  of  digestion,  so  that  milk  received  into  the 
stomach  undergoes  no  change.  He  next  forced  all  the 
breath  in  his  body  into  his  brain,  which  became  very 
hot,  upon  which  the  lungs  collapsed,  and  the  heart  ceased 


PHENOMENA   AMONG   THE   ORIENTALS     71 

to  beat.  He  then  stopped  up  with  wax  every  aperture  of 
the  body  through  which  air  could  enter,  except  the  mouth, 
but  the  tongue  was  so  turned  back  as  to  close  the  gullet, 
upon  which  a  state  of  insensibility  ensued.  He  was  then 
stripped  and  put  into  a  linen  bag,  and  on  the  occasion  in 
question,  this  bag  was  sealed  with  Runjeet  Sing's  own  seal. 
He  was  then  placed  in  a  deal  box,  which  was  also  locked 
and  sealed,  and  the  box  being  buried  in  a  vault,  the  earth 
was  thrown  over  it  and  trodden  down,  after  which  a  crop 
of  barley  was  sown  on  the  spot  and  sentries  placed  to 
watch  it.  The  Maharajah,  hoAvever,  was  so  sceptical  that, 
in  spite  of  all  these  precautions,  he  had  him  tAvice,  in  the 
course  of  the  ten  months,  dug  up  and  examined,  and  each 
time  he  was  found  to  be  exactly  in  the  same  state  as  when 
they  shut  him  up. 

When  he  was  disinterred,  the  first  step  toAvards  his 
recovery  was  to  turn  back  his  tongue,  which  Avas  found  quite 
stiff,  and  required  for  some  time  to  be  retained  in  its 
proper  position  by  the  finger  ;  Avarm  water  was  poured  upon 
him,  and  his  eyes  and  lips  moistened  Avith  ghee,  or  oil. 
His  recovery  was  much  more  rapid  than  might  be  expected, 
and  he  Avas  soon  able  to  recognise  the  bystanders  and  con- 
verse. He  stated  that  during  his  state  of  trance  his  dreams 
Avere  ravishing,  and  that  it  Avas  very  painful  to  be  aAvakened, 
but  I  do  not  knoAv  that  he  has  ever  disclosed  any  of  his 
experiences.  His  only  apprehension  seems  to  be,  lest 
he  should  be  attacked  by  insects,  to  avoid  Avhich  accident 
the  box  is  slung  to  the  ceiling.  The  interval  seems  to 
be  passed  in  a  complete  state  of  hibernation;  and  Avhen 
he  is  taken  up  no  pulse  is  perceptible,  and  his  eyes  are 
glazed  like  those  of  a  corpse. 

Here  is  another  fact  which  recalls  the  experiments 
of  certain  mediums.  The  account  Avas  published  by  Dr. 
Pascal  in  the  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychigues. 

'•'  It  Avas  at  Benares  on  October  26th,  1898.  A  rich 
vaishya,  universally  known  and  respected  in  the  town, 
Govinda  Das,  desirous  of  proving  once  more  his  gratitude 
towards  the  Theosophical  Society,  which  had  given  a  great 
impulse  to  Avhat  the  ncAvspapers  of  the  country  call  '  The 


72  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Hindu  Renaissance,'  asked  the  High  Priest  attached  to 
the  Maharajah's  palace  if  he  would  be  willing  to  show 
to  the  members  of  the  society,  then  assembled  in  their 
annual  convention,  the  phenomenon  of  the  mastery 
of  fire. 

"  A  rectangular  trench  nearly  9  yards  long  and  2  yards 
wide,  and  about  30  inches  deep,  had  been  excavated  in  a 
corner  of  the  large  garden  of  the  villa,  '  Gopal  Lai  Orderly 
Bazar,'  the  seat  of  the  convention.  Fifteen  tall  trunks 
of  trees  w^ere  burned  in  it  from  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  threw  off  a  tremendous  heat  around  the  spot. 
Towards  half-past  seven  in  the  evening  the  large  live 
embers  were  scattered  by  breaking  them  with  enormous 
long  bamboos,  and  they  made  an  even  bed  of  flaming 
embers.  This  bed  was  5  yards  in  length,  2  yards  wide, 
and  at  least  8  inches  in  thickness. 

"  At  eight  o'clock  all  was  ready.  A  crowd  of  about  two 
thousand  people  surrounded  the  hole,  for  the  rumour  of 
the  phenomenon  had  been  spread  abroad  and  the  invasion 
of  the  garden  could  not  be  prevented.  A  certain  number 
of  invited  guests,  of  whom  the  writer  was  one,  were  placed 
on  a  hillock  about  three  yards  from  the  excavation,  and 
could  see  without  difiiculty  all  that  took  place. 

"  Suddenly  the  crowd  became  agitated,  cries  were  heard, 
and  a  small  procession  advanced,  preceded  by  a  Hindu 
dressed  in  white,  wearing  a  turban  and  brandishing  a  kind 
of  baton  of  command,  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  our 
drum-majors.  Two  thurifers  followed,  each  carrying  a 
small  basket,  surrounded  by  a  row  of  small  red  and  green 
flags,  with  a  strong  flame  coming  from  the  centre ;  they 
were  accompanied  by  torch-bearers.  Two  men  were  parti- 
cularly noticeable  as  they  threw  themselves  convulsively 
about  in  the  middle  of  the  cortege  and  uttered  cries  like 
persons  possessed. 

"  Eventually  there  came  a  shrine  with  glass  sides,  carried 
by  six  individuals:  inside  could  be  seen  three  images, 
some  plates  with  inscriptions,  two  cross  swords,  placed 
vertically  in  the  middle  of  the  back  face,  and  various 
other   small  objects  which  we  could  not  identify.     The 


PHENOMENA    AMONG   THE   ORIENTALS     73 

Brahmin  came  last  in  the  procession,  which  stopped  a  few 
yards  from  the  brazier.  The  priest  took  up  a  position  on 
the  left,  sat  down  and  commenced  the  incantations  which 
were  to  produce  the  phenomenon,  but  the  noise  made  by 
the  crowd  prevented  us  from  hearing  the  words. 

"The  master  of  ceremonies,  who  was  in  front  of  the 
brazier,  moved  about  and  pronounced  at  regular  intervals 
some  brief  syllables,  to  which  the  procession  briskly  re- 
sponded with  certain  unknown  words. 

"The  two  fanatics  continued  their  contortions  and 
cried  out  as  though  they  were  being  put  to  death.  Then 
one  of  the  swords  from  the  shrine  was  given  to  each  and 
some  cocoa-nuts  were  thrown  on  to  the  ground  :  they  threw 
themselves  madly  on  to  these,  according  to  the  ceremonial, 
breaking  them  with  blows  of  the  SAvord.  The  procession 
went  twice  round  the  furnace,  and  several  times  the  fire 
was  sprinkled  with  consecrated  water.  Finally  one  of  the 
broken  cocoa-nuts  Avas  thrown  on  to  the  fire ;  it  was  the 
signal.  The  more  excited  of  the  fanatics  rushed  on  to 
the  brazier,  brandishing  his  sword  and  uttering  terrible 
cries :  he  rapidly  crossed  the  excavation,  quickly  followed 
by  his  comrade,  and  they  passed  and  re-passed  in  a  terribly 
agitated  state.  One  of  them — the  first — became  danger- 
ous; he  was  disarmed  with  difficulty,  and  held  by  four 
men.  Some  of  the  spectators  had  already  rushed  in  turn 
on  to  the  fire  —  about  fifty  in  all — and  crossed  it  many 
times  ;  among  them  were  men  of  the  lower  classes,  children, 
and  some  Hindus  of  superior  education. 

"  Some  ran  quickly :  one  stopped  for  a  moment  in  the 
middle  of  the  brazier,  plunging  his  hand  into  the  embers, 
seizing  a  handful,  and  taking  them  to  the  other  side  of 
the  hole.  Another  came  out  with  a  flaming  cinder  as  large 
as  a  small  pullet's  egg,  sticking  to  the  lower  part  of  his 
leg,  and  talked  to  some  of  the  spectators  for  eight  or  ten 
seconds  without  inconvenience  :  he  was  then  told  of  it  and 
pulled  it  off.  The  children  particularly  Avere  delighted  ; 
they  passed  and  repassed  through  the  fire,  and  boastfully 
showed  that  their  little  feet  were  not  injured  by  it. 
Finally  the  procession  went  back  again,  and  the  Brahmin 


74  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

left  the  place.  Some  persons  continued  to  cross  the 
furnace,  but  this  soon  came  to  an  end,  because  they  said 
that  after  the  priest  and  the  shrine  leave,  the  charm  quickly 
ceases  and  the  fire  resumes  its  dominion.  A  number 
of  natives  then  filled  with  live  cinders  the  vessels  they 
had  brought,  and  proceeded  to  cook  their  food  over  a  fire 
they  regarded  as  sacred.  We  went  do^vn  to  the  edge  of 
the  fire  to  judge  as  to  its  heat.  It  was  difficult  to  endure 
it :  we  were  obliged  to  turn  away  our  faces  and  to  withdraw. 
Some  ladies,  on  the  hillock,  felt  such  heat  on  their  faces 
that  they  had  to  screen  them  with  their  handkerchiefs. 

"  We  had  now  to  commence  the  inquiry  and  to  examine 
the  results.  It  was  impossible  to  secure  much  information, 
because  the  majority  of  the  experimenters  had  already 
mingled  with  the  crowd.  We  examined,  however,  the 
soles  of  the  feet  of  Govinda  Das's  brother,  a  well-educated 
man,  a  B.A.  of  Allahabad  University.  We  had  seen  him 
cross  the  brazier  twice,  the  first  time  rapidly,  the  second 
time  more  slowly.  The  soles  of  his  feet  were  supple,  and 
the  skin,  which  was  carefully  inspected,  was  intact.  But 
the  crowd  gradually  withdrew,  and  we  could  not  get  any 
further  information.  We  returned  to  the  place  the 
following  morning  at  eight  o'clock.  The  coals  were  re- 
duced to  very  warm  cinders,  the  radiation  from  them 
being  clearly  perceived  at  more  than  two  yards  from  the 
excavation,  and  about  ten  natives  were  warming  them- 
selves. The  night  had  been  cold.  We  then  went  to  the 
villa  Gopal  Lai.  Amongst  the  delegates  from  the  various 
branches  of  the  Theosophical  Society  Avere  some  who  had 
crossed  the  fire.  They  were  well-educated  men,  very 
intelligent,  and  of  good  faith.  The  soles  of  their  feet  were 
delicate,  like  those  of  all  the  Hindus  who  wore  shoes. 
One  of  them  (an  M.A.  of  Calcutta  Universitj^)  was  ab- 
solutely unharmed,  as  well  as  another  (a  B.A.  of  Allahabad 
University). 

"  Four  others  came  forward,  who  had  crossed  the  fire 
after  the  Brahmin  had  left. 

"  The  first  showed  at  the  centre  of  the  sole  a  surface  of 
about  a  third  of  an  inch  square  burnt  slightly  brown,  and 


PHENOMENA    AMONG   THE    ORIENTAES     75 

the  first  layer  of  the  skin  was  gone :  the  second  and  third 
showed  greater  burning,  but  still  superficial,  about  as 
large  as  the  nail  of  the  little  finger ;  one  was  burned  on 
on  the  inner  part  of  the  left  big  toe,  the  other  on  the  sole 
the  foot:  the  fourth,  who  was  the  last  of  the  crowd  to 
go  on  to  the  brazier,  waited  two  or  three  minutes  after  the 
procession  had  left  before  coming  forward  :  he  had  crossed 
it  five  or  six  times  very  slowly.  Under  the  ends  of  the 
toes  of  one  of  his  feet  could  be  seen  some  small  blisters, 
showing  burns  about  a  sixth  of  a  square  inch  in  extent,  as 
though  some  small  blistering  plasters  had  been  applied. 
The  other  foot  showed  nothing.  The  skin  of  the  soles  is 
tender.  These  burns  were  healed  on  the  following  day. 
We  omitted  to  say  that  all  those  who  crossed  the  exca- 
vation had  naked  feet.  The  sensation  experienced  on 
crossing  the  brazier,  according  to  the  statement  of  those 
we  questioned,  was  similar  to  that  felt  when  walking  on 
fine  and  moderately  warm  sand. 

"  One  of  the  experimenters  stated  that  the  sensation  of 
heat  was  stronger  in  front  of  the  fire  than  in  the  centre. 
The  effect  of  the  warm  air  on  the  respiration  was,  he  said, 
not  marked,  but  the  length  of  time  taken  in  crossing  was 
not  sufficient  for  him  to  judge. 

"  On  the  following  day  the  Brahmin  said  to  Govinda 
Das  that  the  control  of  the  fire  had  not  been  so  complete 
as  usual,  because  the  images  in  the  shrine  had  been 
touched  by  some  Mohammedans  and  some  persons  in  the 
crowd.  A  bystander  who  had  previously  crossed  the  fire, 
on  a  similar  occasion,  under  the  direction  of  the  same 
priest,  made  the  evening  before,  and  spontaneously,  the 
declaration  that  the  sensation  of  heat  to  the  sole  of  the 
feet  was  noticeably  greater  than  on  his  first  experiment, 
which  tended  to  confirm  the  statement  of  the  operator, 
and  which  explained,  perhaps,  why  the  most  conclusive 
part  of  the  ceremony  was  omitted,  to  the  great  dissatis- 
faction of  the  crowd  accustomed  to  see  it  carried  out. 
This  part  of  the  performance  consisted  in  a  peculiar 
combat,  on  the  brazier,  between  the  two  men  armed  with 
swords. 


76  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  The  second  ceremony  took  place  about  December  7th 
of  the  same  year  in  the  park  of  the  palace  of  Maharajah 
Tagore,  who  was  then  at  his  country-house  at  Benares. 
A  Frenchman,  the  son  of  Dr.  Javal  of  Paris,  was  present. 

"  We  have  nothing  to  say  with  regard  to  the  ceremonial, 
which  was  in  all  points  similar  to  that  already  described : 
the  excavation  was  of  similar  dimensions  to  the  first,  and 
the  bed  of  live  coals  was  almost  of  the  same  thickness. 
Some  hundreds  of  persons  of  all  ranks  and  ages  crossed 
it ;  at  first  five  belonging  to  the  Maharajah's  court :  they 
walked  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  others  more  quickly. 
They  were  not  burned.  When  the  crowd  ceased  to  move 
about  we  went  to  the  edge  of  the  excavation,  with  the 
intention  of  putting  our  hands  amongst  the  coals,  to 
witness  for  ourselves  the  reality  of  the  phenomenon. 
Cries  rose  from  all  parts :  an  interpreter  came  to  tell  us 
that  the  Brahmin  had  left  the  place  some  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes,  and  that  the  fire  had  resumed  its  power.  The 
Maharajah  came  forward,  and  offered  us,  if  we  desired  to 
cross  the  brazier,  to  have  the  ceremony  performed  again. 
We  accepted,  and,  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  were  in- 
formed that  everything  was  ready.  We  then  took  off  our 
shoes  and  stockings  and  went  into  the  brazier.  The  first 
two  steps  gave  us  the  impression  of  a  burning  on  the 
soles  of  the  feet :  the  other  five  merely  gave  us  the 
sensation  of  an  intense  heat.  We  crossed  at  a  gentle  trot, 
making  at  least  two  steps  a  second. 

"  Immediately  afterwards  we  examined  our  feet :  there 
was  a  slight  burn  on  the  sole  of  the  right  foot,  as  large  as 
the  nail  of  the  little  finger,  and  two  others  of  the  same 
size  on  the  sole  of  the  left  foot :  the  brown  places  denoting 
them  were  transformed  on  the  following  day  into  small 
blisters,  which  did  not  for  an  instant  prevent  us  from 
walking,  and  which  healed  in  a  few  days.  Several  Hindus, 
who  crossed  with  us,  wore  as  lightly  burnt. 

"  We  then  learned  that  the  operation  had  been  per- 
formed, not  by  the  Brahmin,  who  had  left  the  place  some 
time  before,  but  by  his  principal  assistant,  and  that  full 
control  of  the  fire  had  not  been  obtained. 


PHENOMENA   AMONG    THE   ORIENTALS     77 

"  We  admit,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  that  if  the  fire 
was  not  completely  subdued,  its  activity  was  extraordinarily 
reduced,  because,  had  there  not  been  a  considerable 
counteracting  influence,  we  should  have  been  seriously 
injured :  this  point  appeared  to  us  indisputable. 

"A  third  opportunity  of  being  present  at  the  same 
ceremony  was  ofiered  us  at  Benares  in  February  1908,  in 
the  court  of  the  Temple,  to  which  the  priest,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken,  was  attached. 

"  Everything  happened  as  on  the  previous  occasions : 
we  think  it  well,  however,  to  mention  one  interesting  fact. 

"Three  Hindus,  who  had  struck  against  each  other 
while  crossing,  fell  into  the  brazier. 

"  It  took  them  a  few  seconds  to  get  up  and  come  out. 
Not  one  of  them  was  burned,  although  the  fire  had  had 
direct  contact  with  a  large  portion  of  the  body  (legs  and 
arms) :  their  clothing  was  saved,  and  it  was  composed  of 
very  light,  vaporous,  and  highly  inflammable  material. 

"  This  phenomenon  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  India. 
An  annual  festival  is  specially  held  for  this  purpose  in 
the  temple  of  Dharmuraja  at  Mulapel.  It  had  just  been 
held,  about  October  20th,  at  Nagpur,  during  our  stay  at 
Benares,  tire-grates  being  employed,  which  allowed  a  wide 
range  to  the  flames. 

"Several  highly  esteemed  and  well  educated  Hindus, 
well  known  to  us,  related  to  us  that  they  had  been  pre- 
sent on  various  occasions  at  these  ceremonies,  when  the 
fire-grates  were  from  ten  to  fifteen  yards  long. 

"  One  of  them,  M.  A.  H.  of  Allahabad  University,  saw 
the  priest  whose  exploits  we  have  related  walk  with 
impunity  with  slow  steps  in  a  brazier  ten  yards  long: 
another  could  cross  a  fire  a  dozen  times  consecutively. 
On  the  south-west  coast  similar  ceremonies  frequently 
take  place,  in  the  course  of  which  priests  of  a  lower  order 
sacrifice  a  goat,  and  hold  it  with  impunity  on  the  brazier 
for  an  hour  :  these  facts  have  been  confirmed  to  us  by  an 
inhabitant  of  the  country,  a  man  whose  word  cannot  be 
doubted,  and  who  has  witnessed  it  many  times. 

"  In  Europe  the  trial  by  fire  successfully  undergone  by 


78  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

sorcerers  was  for  many  centuries  regarded  as  a  proof  of 
possession,  and  these  unfortunate  beings  were  put  to 
death :  no  one  thought  that  a  demon,  with  the  powers 
that  arc  attributed  to  him,  could,  if  he  had  a  will,  rescue 
his  followers  not  only  from  the  action  of  fire,  but  from 
any  kind  of  death :  but  logic  was  not  the  dominant  feature 
of  that  epoch.  In  the  stories  of  possession  and  of  con- 
vulsionaries  we  find  numerous  examples  of  immunity 
from  fire. 

"  In  our  own  days  the  mediums  Eglinton,  Home,  and 
many  others  have  been  able  to  take  live  coals  in  their 
hands  and  hold  them  there  for  some  time  without  being 
burned.  These  phenomena  are  therefore  not  new.  Those 
at  which  we  were  present  are  sufficient  proof  to  us  of  the 
existence  of  a  power  capable  of  subduing  to  a  considerable 
degree  the  destructive  energy  of  fire. 

"  It  was  not  extinguished,  but  it  did  not  burn.  We  con- 
sider that  a  furnace,  similar  to  that  which  we  have  seen, 
could  not  be  crossed  with  the  naked  feet,  in  the  conditions 
stated,  without  serious  burnings  resulting  each  time." 


CHAPTER   VI 

PHENOMENA  OF  LUCIDITY,  MOTRICITY,  AND  PROJEC- 
TION OF  THE  DOUBLE  OBSERVED  IN  FAKIRS  OR 
ORIENTAL  SORCERERS 

The  following  phenomena  are  of  the  same  character  as 
those  observed  with  mediums.  We  find  in  them  pheno- 
mena of  motricity  or  of  externalisation  of  force,  pheno- 
mena of  lucidity,  and  the  phenomenon  of  the  projection 
of  the  double. 

The  following  is  "an  account  given  by  M.  Jacolliot  of 
experiments  made  in  his  presence  by  two  fakirs. 

M.  Jacolliot  was,  in  1866,  Imperial  Agent  at  Pondi- 
chery,  and  has  written  on  Ancient  and  Modern  India/ 
and  tells  us  first  of  a  fakir  named  Salvanadin. 

The  fakir  squatted  down  on  the  pavement,  and  placed 
his  seven-knotted  stick  between  his  legs. 

Salvanadin  asked  to  have  brought  to  him  seven  small 
flower-pots  full  of  earth,  seven  thin  sticks  of  wood,  each 
about  a  yard  long,  and  seven  leaves  taken  from  any  tree, 
no  matter  what. 

When  these  objects  had  been  brought,  luithout  touch- 
ing them  himself,  he  had  them  placed  in  a  horizontal  line, 
about  two  yards  from  his  outstretched  arms,  and  instructed 
a  servant  to  place  one  stick  of  wood  in  each  pot  of  earth, 
and  to  put  on  to  each  stick  a  tree  leaf  with  a  hole  in  the 
middle.  All  the  leaves  dropped  down  the  sticks,  acting 
as  covers  to  the  pots. 

The  fakir  raised  his  joined  hands  above  his  head, 
and  pronounced  the  following  invocation  in  the  Tamil 
language : — 

^  Occult  Science  in  India  and  among  the  Ancients.  By  Louis  Jacolliot, 
Chief  Justice  of  Chandenagur  (French  East  Indies).  London :  William 
Rider  &  Son,  Limited,  8  Paternoster  Row,  E.G. 

79 


80  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  May  all  the  powers  that  watch  over  the  mtelligent 
principle  of  life  and  over  the  principle  of  matter  protect 
me  from  the  wrath  of  evil  spirits,  and  may  the  immortal 
Spirit  shield  mo  from  the  vengeance  of  Yama." 

He  then  stretched  out  his  hands  in  the  direction  of 
the  flower-pots  and  stood  in  a  sort  of  ecstasy.  Suddenly 
a  light  wind,  coming  no  one  knew  whence,  stirred  the 
leaves,  and  blew  Jacolliot's  hair  across  his  face  several  times, 
while  the  curtains  of  the  verandah  Avere  undisturbed. 

After  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  fig  leaves  began 
to  move  slowly  upward  along  the  sticks,  then  as  slowly 
descended.  Jacolliot,  who  was  greatly  excited,  saw  that 
there  was  no  visible  means  of  communication,  passing  and 
repassing  several  times  between  the  fakir  and  the  sticks 
while  the  leaves  still  rose  and  descended. 

He  examined  everything,  removing  the  leaves  from 
the  sticks  and  the  sticks  from  the  pots,  and  emptied  the 
earth  on  to  the  pavement.  He  then  ordered  seven  goblets 
to  be  brought  from  the  kitchen,  and  earth  and  fresh  leaves 
from  the  garden.  He  cut  a  bamboo  cane  into  seven  pieces, 
and  arranged  them  himself  in  the  same  way  as  had  been 
done  previously,  placing  everything  at  a  distance  of  four 
yards  from  the  fakir,  who  made  no  movement.  Five 
minutes  afterwards  the  fakir  merely  extended  his  arms, 
and  the  leaves  again  began  to  rise  up  the  sticks. 

Then,  having  bored  seven  holes  in  a  plank,  he  placed 
the  seven  bamboo  sticks  in  them,  and  the  same  phenomena 
occurred  as  before. 

He  repeated  the  experiment  in  twenty  difi'erent  ways, 
but  always  with  the  same  result.  The  fakir  asked :  "Is 
there  not  some  question  you  wish  to  put  to  the  invisible 
spirits  before  they  go  ? " 

Jacolliot,  not  expecting  such  a  question,  asked  how  he 
could  communicate. 

"  Ask  anything  you  please  and  the  leaves  will  remain 
still  if  the  spirits  have  nothing  to  say,  or  will  rise  should 
the  contrary  be  the  case." 

Jacolliot  then  threw  into  a  bag  a  number  of  brass 
letters  and  figures,  and  thought  of  a  friend  who  had  been 


ORIENTAL   PHENOMENA  81 

dead  for  twenty  years :  he  drew  the  letters  out  of  the  sack 
one  by  one,  and  watched  the  leaves. 

After  fourteen  letters  or  figures  had  been  drawn,  the 
letter  A  appeared,  the  leaves  then  began  to  move,  rose  to 
the  top  of  the  stick,  and  fell  back  again.  It  was  the  first 
letter  of  the  name.  When  the  bag  was  empty,  he  put  the 
letters  in  again,  continued,  and  obtained,  letter  by  letter 
and  figure  by  figure,  the  following  words : — 

"  Albain  Brunier  died  at  Bourg-en-Bresse  (Ain), 
January  Zrd,  1856." 

This  was  correct. 

The  same  fakir  made  one  scale  of  a  balance  fall  with 
a  peacock's  feather  when  it  had  a  weight  of  176  pounds 
on  the  opposite  scale.  A  wreath  of  flowers  fluttered  about 
in  the  air  by  a  mere  imposition  of  hands.  Musical  sounds 
were  heard  in  the  air,  and  a  shadowy  hand  drew  luminous 
figures  in  space. 

The  French  judge  was  never  once  able  to  detect  trickery. 

This  took  place  at  Pondichery.  But  another  fakir, 
even  more  extraordinary,  visited  him  at  Benares.  This 
was  Covindasamy,  who  came  from  Trivanderam  with  the 
bones  of  a  rich  Malabar  merchant,  who  had  desired  that 
his  ashes  should  be  thrown  into  the  Ganges,  the  sacred 
river  of  the  Hindus. 

Covindasamy  lodged  in  a  cottage  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  and  Jacolliot  received  him  at  his  house,  on  a  ter- 
race which  overlooked  the  sacred  river,  and  was  protected 
from  the  sun  by  an  awning  of  woven  grass  fibres. 

In  the  middle  of  the  terrace  was  a  fountain,  the  water 
of  which  fell  in  a  fine  shower  into  a  marble  basin. 

Jaoolliot  asked  Covindasamy  if  he  preferred  one  place 
rather  than  another. 

"  Just  as  you  please,"  he  replied.  They  therefore 
remained  on  the  terrace  in  broad  daylight. 

The  fakir  assuming  a  squatting  position,  extended  his 
two  hands  towards  a  large  bronze  vase  filled  with  water ; 
within  five  minutes  the  vase  commenced  to  rock  to  and 
fro  upon  its  base,  and  approached  the  fakir  gently  and 
with  a  regular  motion. 


82  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

Some  metallic  sounds  came  from  the  vase,  as  though 
it  had  been  struck  with  a  steel  rod — a  noise  similar  to 
that  made  by  hail  falling  on  a  zinc  roof. 

Jacolliot  asked  that  he  might  direct  the  operation,  and 
the  fakir  consented. 

The  vase  advanced  or  retreated  at  his  wish :  sometimes 
the  knocks  changed  into  a  continuous  roll  like  a  drum  : 
sometimes  they  came  with  the  regularity  of  a  clock  strik- 
ing the  hours :  and  again  the  sounds  came  regularly  every 
ten  seconds  by  the  watch. 

A  musical-box  was  brought  by  a  servimt ;  it  played  a 
tune,  and  the  knocks  on  the  bronze  vase  accompanied  the 
tune  of  Eohin  dcs  Bois  with  the  regularity  of  the  baton  of 
the  conductor  of  an  orchestra. 

The  tune  was  changed,  and  the  box  played  a  march 
from  Le  Prophete,  and  the  blows  moderated  their  pace  to 
keep  time  with  the  slower  measure. 

There  was  no  other  witness  besides  Jacolliot.  The 
vase  Avhen  empty  could  hardly  be  moved  by  two  men. 

The  fakir  rested  his  two  fingers  on  the  edge  of  the 
vase,  which  soon  rocked  to  and  fro  in  regular  time,  and 
the  water  remained  stationary  in  the  vase:  three  times 
the  vase  rose  seven  or  eight  inches  from  the  ground,  and 
fell  back  gently  without  perceptible  shock. 

Covindasamy  rose,  went  towards  the  vase,  and  plaeeil 
his  hands  over  the  surface  of  the  water  without  touching 
it :  he  remained  thus  motionless  for  an  hour. 

The  water  began  to  be  gently  agitated,  as  though  a 
lijjht  wind  rutHcd  the  surface ;  a  rose  leaf,  thrown  into 
the  water,  drifted  to  the  opposite  edge. 

The  motion  of  the  waves  became  more  violent,  as 
thouirh  the  water  were  in  a  state  of  intense  ebullition.  It 
soon  rose  higher  than  the  fakir's  hands,  and  the  waves 
rose  to  a  height  of  two  feet  above  the  surface. 

The  fakir  withdrew  his  hands,  and  the  agitation  abated  : 
he  replaced  them,  and  the  water  again  passed  into  a  state 
of  ebullition. 

He  placed  a  pencil  on  the  water,  and  made  it  move 
like  a  compass-needle  by  the  motion  of  his  hand  at  a  dis- 


ORIENTAL   PHENOMENA  83 

tance ;  then  he  gently  placed  his  forefinger  on  the  centre 
of  the  pencil,  and  it  slowly  descended  to  the  bottom  of  the 
vase  while  his  hand  remained  on  the  surface. 

Leaning  on  the  judge's  cane  the  fakir  gradually  rose 
to  a  height  of  two  feet  from  the  ground,  with  his  legs 
crossed  in  Oriental  fashion. 

Jacolliot,  astonished,  tried  for  a  long  time  to  discover 
how  Covindasamy  could  thus  break  the  laws  of  statics ; 
the  stick  gave  him  no  visible  support,  and  there  was  no 
apparent  contact  between  it  and  his  body  except  through 
his  right  hand  resting  on  the  knob. 

He  then  took  a  small  wooden  table  made  of  teak 
between  his  thumb  and  forefinger,  and  placed  it  in  the 
middle  of  the  terrace,  asking  the  fakir  to  fix  it  there  so 
that  it  could  not  be  moved. 

Covindasamy  placed  his  hands  over  it  for  a  quarter  of 
hour  and  said  : — 

"  The  Spirits  are  here,  and  nobody  can  remove  this 
table  without  their  permission." 

Jacolliot  incredulously  took  hold  of  the  table,  thinking 
he  could  lift  it,  but  it  remained  fixed  to  the  ground;  he 
redoubled  his  efforts,  the  table  top  came  off  in  his  hands : 
he  took  hold  of  the  legs,  but  the  result  was  the  same. 

A  flute  played  without  being  touched  ;  a  toy  from 
Nuremberg,  a  small  windmill,  turned  without  any  visible 
motor. 

Before  the  departure  of  the  fakir,  who  wished  to  return 
to  Trivanderam,  the  French  judge  obtained  two  more 
seances,  one  in  the  daytime  and  the  other  at  night. 

At  the  first  the  Hindu  brought  a  small  bag  of  fine  sand 
and  poured  it  out  over  a  surface  of  nearly  twenty  square 
inches  on  the  ground :  he  asked  Jacolliot  to  sit  opposite 
to  him  with  paper  and  pencil. 

The  fakir  placed  a  penholder  on  the  sand. 

"  When  you  see  this  penholder  stand  upright  on  the 
sand,  trace  on  your  paper  any  figures  you  please ;  you  will 
see  an  exact  copy  of  them  in  the  sand." 

This  is  exactly  what  happened. 

Jacolliot  traced  some   strange   figures,  and  the  pen- 


84  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

holder  imitated  them ;  he  stopped,  and  the  penholder  did 
the  same. 

"  Can  you  think  of  a  Sanskrit  word  ? " 

He  thought  of  Purusha,  the  celestial  generator,  and  the 
word  was  written  on  the  sand. 

"  Think  of  a  sentence," 

"Vishnu  sleeps  on  the  mount."  The  sentence  was 
written. 

Jacolliot  asked  for  the  243rd  sloka  of  the  fourth  book 
of  Manu. 

The  following  was  given :  "  The  man  who  makes  virtue 
the  object  of  all  his  actions,  and  Avhose  transgressions 
have  been  wiped  out  by  pious  acts  and  sacrifices,  reaches 
the  celestial  mansions,  radiant  with  light  and  clothed  in 
the  spiritual  form." 

Jacolliot  placed  his  hand  on  a  small  closed  book,  the 
Rig- Veda,  and  said  :  "  What  is  the  first  word  of  the  fifth 
line  of  the  21st  page  ?  " 

The  answer  came,  "  Devadatta — given  by  God."  This 
was  correct. 

"  Put  a  mental  question,"  said  the  fakir.  I  did  so. 
"  Vasundard — the  earth,"  was  the  reply. 

Jacolliot  had  asked :  "  Who  is  our  common  mother  ? " 

At  the  end  of  the  terrace  he  saw  a  Hindu  in  a  garden 
drawing  water  from  a  well  and  pouring  it  through  a 
conduit  to  a  bathing  room.  Covindasamy  stretched  out 
his  hand,  and  the  well  rope  ceased  to  move.  The  Hindu 
began  to  chant  all  the  magical  incantations  he  knew,  but 
the  words  died  away  in  his  throat.  The  fakir  withdrew  his 
hand,  the  well  rope  moved,  and  the  Hindu's  voice  returned. 

Concentrated  and  absorbed,  before  leaving,  the  fakir 
made  Jacolliot  hear  some  harmonious  airs,  like  those 
heard  rising  from  the  valley  by  huntsmen  in  the  moun- 
tains ;  then  Covindasamy  rose  about  a  foot  from  the 
ground  and  finally  took  his  leave. 

Such  are  the  facts  relating  to  these  Indian  mediums  as 
they  are  recorded  in  a  large  volume  by  M.  Jacolliot.  We 
could  quote  a  much  larger  number,  seen  by  Pere  Hue,  a 
missionary,  who  lived  for  a  long  time  in  Thibet. 


ORIENTAL   PHENOMENA  85 

We  will  now  instance  some  observations  of  the  pheno- 
menon of  lucidity. 

This  power,  as  we  are  told  by  Dr.  Pascal,  is  very  strongly 
developed  in  the  Hindus,  the  Redskins,  the  Druses,  Kurds, 
Laplanders,  Tartars,  and  a  large  number  of  other  remnants 
of  disappearing  or  degenerate  races.  There  exists  among 
some  of  these  races  a  real  mental  telegraphy  which  closely 
connects  them  in  times  of  danger.  At  the  time  of  the 
Indian  Mutiny  the  news  of  the  outbreak  arrived  in  the 
Indian  bazaars  long  before  the  official  telegraphic  dis- 
patches. 

Napoleon  Ney  (in  Mussulman  Societies)  relates  that  in 
1883  M.  de  Lesseps  explored  the  c/;o^ts  of  Tunisia.  During 
his  stay  at  Sfax,  he  read  to  an  assembly  of  prominent 
natives  a  letter  from  Abd-el-Kader,  who  recommended 
them  to  regard  favourably  the  application  and  project  of 
Colonel  Rondaire.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  he 
embarked  for  Gabes,  where  he  arrived  the  following  morn- 
ing. In  the  evening  he  was  at  the  village  of  Menzel, 
where  the  native  chief  congratulated  him  on  the  letter 
from  the  Emir,  adding  that  the  good  news  had  reached 
them  from  Sfax  during  the  day.  Now  from  Sfax  to  Gabes 
by  road  is  seven  days'  journey,  and  it  was  impossible  for 
the  chief  to  receive  the  news  by  water,  the  way  M.  de 
Lesseps  had  taken. 

The  MissoiLri  Republican  published,  a  few  years  since,  a 
curious  article  on  mental  telegraphy  among  the  Redskins : 
the  manner  in  which  they  communicated  with  each  other, 
the  writer  said,  would  remain  a  mystery  which  would  never 
be  revealed.  The  only  thing  established  is  that  such  com- 
munications are  sent  and  received  between  persons  far 
apart.  After  inquiry  it  has  always  been  established  that 
the  communications  were  perfectly  correct. 

There  is  also  universal  agreement  as  to  the  fact  itself, 
and  no  one  can  deny  the  existence  of  this  power  of  mental 
communication  at  a  distance — a  power  which  seems  to  be 
confined  to  certain  individuals  of  the  tribe.  This  fact  was 
proved  several  times  during  the  war  between  the  English 
and  these  tribes  in  1789. 


/ 


86  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

With  regard  to  the  mysterious  sect  of  the  Druses,  in 
Lebanon,  the  secret  of  their  telegraphy  is  marvellously 
preserved :  they  are  thus  kept  in  touch  with  all  external 
matters  that  interest  them. 

Here  is  an  interesting  example  reported  by  Mr.  Scrug- 
ham.  He  was  engaged  as  civil  engineer  in  the  construction 
of  a  line  of  railway  in  the  interior  of  India.  They  came  upon 
a  rock  which  it  was  necessary  to  pierce,  and,  in  expectation 
of  this,  they  had  ordered  a  battery  of  tripod  perforators, 
worked  by  steam.  But  these  perforators  were  late  in 
arriving,  and  Mr.  S.  one  day  asked  one  of  his  assistants  if 
he  had  any  news  of  them  from  Calcutta,  some  thousands 
of  miles  distant.  He  replied  in  the  negative,  and  did 
not  even  know  if  the  steamer  had  arrived  at  Calcutta. 
During  that  time  one  of  the  Hindus,  whom  the  Govern- 
ment had  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  engineer,  came 
forward :  he  had  received  an  excellent  education  and 
spoke  English  fluently.  He  told  Mr.  S.  that  the  steamer 
had  arrived  at  Calcutta,  and  that  the  perforators  had  been 
landed  on  the  quay:  "  But,"  he  added,  "  there  is  a  part 
missing;  what  funny  engines  they  are,  with  their  three 
feet!" 

They  showed  him  a  photograph  of  these  perforators, 
and  he  pointed  out  to  them  the  essential  part  which 
was  missing  in  all  of  them.  Mr.  S.  then  telegraphed  to 
Calcutta,  and  he  learned  that  the  perforators  had  been 
unpacked  and  that  one  necessary  portion  was  missing 
from  each  one.  The  work  was  thus  interrupted  for  some 
time.  Mr.  S.  then  called  the  Hindu  and  asked  him  where 
the  missing  pieces  were.  He  replied  that  they  had  never 
been  disembarked  ;  they  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  hold, 
hidden  under  a  load  of  heavy  packages  destined  for 
another  port.  The  telegraph  was  again  set  to  work,  and 
the  missing  parts  were  found  in  the  hold  exactly  as  the 
Hindu  had  said.  Some  days  afterwards  the  perforators 
arrived  without  accident  and  were  set  to  work. 

The  singular  phenomenon  of  projection  of  the  double, 
which  we  shall  now  quote,  is  related  by  a  missionary  who 
was  a  witness  of  it  in  Africa. 


ORIENTAL   PHENOMENA  87 

A  certain  Ugema  Uzago,  who  was  at  the  time  chief  of 
the  Jabikou  tribe  and  a  celebrated  fetish-man,  had  an 
extraordinary  power  over  the  natives,  because  he  cured 
the  illnesses  from  which  they  suffered,  found  them  the 
means  of  making  fortunes  as  well  as  of  recognising  their 
enemies,  a  pleasing  euphemism,  which,  in  the  minds  of  these 
people,  signified  that  they  would  soon  get  rid  of  them. 

This  Ugema  was  a  friend  of  the  missionary,  or,  at  least, 
having  often  sought  assistance  of  the  reverend  father,  it 
pleased  him  to  pass  as  such,  and,  frequently  in  the  evening, 
he  came  to  converse  with  him  on  his  affairs — and  to  ask  for 
some  tobacco. 

One  evening  he  told  the  missionary  that  the  Master, 
whom  they  all  feared,  had  invited  all  his  disciples  to 
assemble  on  the  following  evening  on  the  Yemvi  plateau. 

"  I  shall  therefore  not  be  able  to  come  here,"  added 
Ugema. 

"But  how,"  exclaimed  the  priest,  "can  you  meet  on 
the  Yemvi  plateau  ?  It  is  four  long  days'  walk.  You  will 
never  get  there." 

Ugema  rose  up  proudly : — 

"Come  with  me  to-morrow  evening,"  he  replied ;  "you 
will  see  that  we  know  how  to  manage  things,  we  black 
magicians." 

The  missionary  took  care  not  to  miss  so  excellent  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  the  skill  of  the  celebrated 
sorcerer,  and  the  following  evening  at  six  o'clock,  before 
nightfall,  he  had  joined  him. 

"  I  am  going  to  commence  immediately  the  preparations 
for  my  departure,"  Ugema  said  to  him.  "As  soon  as  I 
have  finished,  on  your  life,  do  not  interfere  with  me,  that 
would  certainly  be  death  for  you,  and  also  for  me." 

"  I  solemnly  promised  him,"  wrote  the  missionary, "  not 
to  say  a  word,  nor  to  disturb  him  in  his  incantations  by 
any  gesture,  or  cry,  or  anything.  I  would  be  as  mute  as 
the  trunk  of  a  dead  tree." 

"  But,"  I  said  to  him  again,  "  pardon,  one  word  only. 
"  You  are  going,  are  you  not,  to  the  plateau  at  Yemvi,  to 
the  old  deserted  village." 


88  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  Yes,  I  have  already  told  you  that." 

"  Well,  I  have  a  commission  to  give  you ;  will  you  do 
me  a  service." 

"  Very  willingly." 

"  On  your  way,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  you  pass 
through  the  village  of  Ushong,  do  you  not  ? " 

"  Certainly." 

"  You  know  the  contractor  there  who  purchases  india- 
rubber  ? " 

"  Esaba,  is  it  not  ? " 

"  Yes,  that  is  right." 

(I  ought  to  say  that  Esaba,  the  black  merchant  of 
this  village,  is  a  Christian,  with  the  baptismal  name  of 
Vincent,  who,  in  case  of  need,  teaches  a  little  catechism, 
baptizes  the  dying,  instructs  children,  and  is  moreover 
most  devoted  to  us.  When  we  are  at  his  village  it  is 
always  he  who  gives  us  hospitality  and  renders  us  a 
thousand  services.) 

"  Well,  on  passing  his  door,  would  you  tell  him  that  I 
particularly  wish  to  see  him,  if  he  could  come  immediately 
and  at  the  same  time  bring  me  the  cartridges  which  I 
left  in  my  small  tin  case  with  him.  He  can  leave  every- 
thing else.  The  cartridges  only  :  that  is  understood,  is  it 
not  ? " 

"  Your  commission  shall  be  executed.  Esaba  will  receive 
your  message  this  very  evening,  and  to-morrow  will  set  out. 
Now,  not  a  word." 

In  face  of  such  assurance,  it  will  be  understood  how 
my  astonishment  increased  and  how  desirous  I  was  to  see 
the  end  of  this  affair,  a  singular  one  at  the  very  least. 
How  would  Ugema  go  to  the  feast  ?  Four  days'  walk  in  a 
few  minutes.  And  then,  as  I  have  just  said,  I  had  an  easy 
means  of  control  through  Esaba.  To  carry  out  this  part 
of  his  mission  would  entail  a  three  days'  journey,  and  then 
he  would  not  be  able  to  lose  any  time  on  the  Avay. 

However,  Ugema  and  myself  went  into  the  fetish-man's 
hut.  A  fire,  on  to  which  some  aromatic  herbs  and  some 
strong-smelling  wood  had  been  abundantly  thrown,  burned 
in  the  centre,  and  the  clear  and  brilliant  flames  illuminated 


ORIENTAL  PHENOMENA  89 

the  whole  place.  I  seated  myself  in  a  corner.  Already, 
singing  a  strange  air  and  an  impressive  melody,  Ugema 
had  taken  off  his  usual  clothing :  one  by  one,  he  reclothed 
himself  in  his  fetish  garments,  stopping  at  each  to 
commence  a  new  song  with  a  slow  and  strange  rhythm, 
a  kind  of  intonation,  in  which  the  voice  was  suddenly 
raised,  and  immediately  fell  again ;  often  a  chant  of  prayer 
or  of  adoration,  more  frequently  an  appeal  to  the  spirits, 
the  spirits  of  the  woods,  the  forests,  the  waters,  and  of  the 
dead. 

At  the  same  time  Ugema  slowly  circled  around  the  fire, 
timing  each  movement  and  constantly  accelerating  the 
rhythm.  The  fetish  garments  were  put  on.  For  a  long 
time  yet  Ugema  turned  around  the  fire,  up  to  the  moment 
when  the  brands  were  consumed  and  only  threw  flickering 
glimmers  across  the  room  :  a  few  sooty  flames,  insufficient 
to  dissipate  the  surrounding  obscurity.  Suddenly  Ugema 
stopped ;  a  strident  imperative  whistling  was  heard  from  the 
roof.  I  raised  my  head ;  a  supple  form  glided  rustling  across 
into  the  room ;  a  black  serpent  of  the  most  dangerous  kind 
spread  himself  out  on  the  floor,  raised  his  head  towards 
me  with  an  irritated  air,  moving  his  forked  tongue  with 
extreme  rapidity,  rose  up,  looked  at  me  in  a  doubtful 
manner,  swayed  himself  again,  then  sprang  on  to  the 
sorcerer,  embracing  and  enfolding  him.  Ugema  unmoved 
took  a  phial,  emptied  a  reddish  coloured  liquid  with  a 
strong  garlic  odour  over  his  hands,  rubbing  successively 
his  whole  body,  commencing  at  the  feet ;  in  the  serpent  I 
had  already  recognised  his  familiar  animal,  his  Elangela, 
the  executor  of  his  death-sentences:  the  black  serpent 
detached  itself  from  his  waist  and  coiled  itself  round  his 
neck,  swaying  and  waving  itself  around  his  head,  following 
the  rhythm  of  the  dance,  and  the  melody  sung. 

Without  the  fetish-man  making  a  gesture  or  sign  to 
stop  me  or  pronouncing  a  word  in  prohibition,  I  lighted 
a  torch  which  enabled  me  to  see  all  the  details  of  the 
scene. 

The  fire  threw  scarcely  any  more  fiickerings :  one  flame 
remained,  then  all  was  extinguished.     Ugema  stretched 


90  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

himself  out  on  the  bed :  a  peculiar  acrid  smell  filled  the 
room,  I  had  tremendous  difficulty  in  resisting  the  torpor 
which  seemed  to  come  over  me  altogether.  I  approached 
Ugema :  the  serpent  had  disappeared,  the  fetish-man  slept 
soundly,  but  a  very  peculiar  sleep,  the  sleep  of  death, 
without  a  movement,  a  cataleptic  sleep :  I  raised  his  eye- 
lids, the  eye  was  white  and  glassy,  making  no  movement 
when  the  flame  of  the  torch  was  held  before  it.  I  stood 
in  front  of  him,  raised  his  arm,  which  fell  back  inert  and 
rigid,  with  a  corpse-like  stiffness  :  I  raised  the  leg  with  the 
same  result,  I  pressed  a  pin  into  the  flesh :  there  was  no 
muscular  contraction  ;  at  the  parting  of  the  lips  there  was 
a  slight  whitish  foam  ;  the  movements  of  the  head  were 
imperceptible  :   Ugema  slept. 

All  the  night  I  watched  him,  I  remained  at  his  side : 
nothing  seemed  to  show  any  sign  of  life.  Not  a  gesture 
or  movement. 

Not  until  morning,  towards  eight  o'clock,  did  Ugema 
begin  to  move  slightly ;  I  watched  him  curiously :  life 
returned  by  degrees,  the  movements,  at  first  spasmodic, 
ceased  :  Ugema  raised  himself  up  from  the  wooden  couch 
on  which  he  was  stretched  out,  looked  at  me  in  a  stupefied 
manner  as  though  to  ask  what  I  was  doing  there,  when 
consciousness  returned  to  him. 

"  Ah  ! "  he  said  to  me,  "  how  tired  I  am." 

"Well!  and  this  famous  journey;  you  see  that  you 
have  not  been  able  to  take  it." 

"  What,  I  have  not  been  able  to  take  it !  AVliat  do 
you  say  ? " 

"  Were  you  last  night  on  the  plateau  at  Yeravi  ? " 

"  Certainly  !  Oh,  it  would  not  do  to  disobey  the  Master's 
command." 

"  And  what  have  you  done  ? " 

Ugema  replied :  "  There  were  very  many  of  us,  we 
enjoyed  ourselves  greatly." 

It  was  impossible  to  gather  anything  from  that. 

"  And  did  you  carry  out  my  commission  ?  Did  you 
tell  Esaba?" 

"  Certainly." 


ORIENTAL  PHENOMENA  91 

"  You  spoke  to  him  last  night  ?  " 

"  I  spoke  to  him  last  night." 

"  But  I  have  not  moved  from  this  room  ;  you  Avere  on 
the  bed.     I  have  watched  over  you  through  the  night." 

"  No,  /  was  not  on  the  bed :  my  body  was  there ;  but 
what  is  my  body  ?  My  self  was  not  there :  I  was  on  the 
mountain  at  Yemvi." 

Not  wishing,  for  the  moment,  to  insist  further,  I  stopped 
the  conversation  and  shortly  afterwards  made  my  way 
to  the  Mission,  wondering  and  asking  myself  what  could 
be  thought  of  it  all ;  was  it  dream,  phantasm,  illusion,  or 
reality  ? 

Three  days  afterwards,  Esaba  came  to  the  Mission. 

"  Father,"  he  said  to  me,  "  here  are  the  cartridges  for 
which  you  asked  me  the  other  day  through  Ugema, 
What  else  do  you  want  me  for  ? " 

It  was  very  easy  for  me  to  find  something. 

"  At  what  time  did  Ugema  arrive  ? " 

"  In  the  evening,  about  nine  o'clock,  three  days  ago,  as 
I  have  said." 

(This  was  exactly  the  time  when  Ugema  fell  into  the 
cataleptic  sleep.) 

"  Did  you  see  him  ? " 

"  Oh,  no  !  you  know  well  that  we  blacks  are  afraid  of 
night  phantoms.  Ugema  knocked  at  my  door,  and  he 
spoke  to  me  outside,  but  I  did  not  see  him." 

"  Ah,  well,  and  that  is  all." 

Without  doubt,  Ugema  had  been  present  at  the  sor- 
cerer's feast :  without  any  doubt  his  ego  had  in  a  few 
moments  performed  a  journey  of  several  hours:  without 
any  doubt  his  ego,  his  double,  had  acted,  spoken,  heard. 

These  observations,  it  will  be  seen,  have  been  made  with 
great  care.  The  author,  in  making  his  assertions  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  subject,  has  proved  that  he  was  not 
present  as  a  purely  passive  spectator  and  cannot  be  accused 
of  illusion  or  exaggeration.  We  regard  the  record  as 
being  of  great  value. 


CHAPTER   VII 

POLTERGEIST   PHENOMENA 

It  is  sometimes  observed  that  certain  of  the  phenomena 
which  we  have  studied  in  mediums  appear  also  to  manifest 
themselves  spontaneously. 

Most  frequently  there  is  no  apparent  cause  for  the 
phenomena  of  this  class  that  suddenly  manifest  themselves 
in  a  house,  in  the  midst  of  a  family,  and  which  seem 
sometimes  to  attach  themselves  by  preference  to  one  room 
or  to  one  group  of  persons.  The  phenomena  are,  most 
frequently,  very  strange,  and  they  last  for  a  certain  time 
in  spite  of  all  that  the  witnesses  can  do  to  stop  them. 

Then,  some  fine  day,  they  cease  as  abruptly  as  they 
commenced  and  everything  goes  along  once  more  as  usual. 

It  is  easy  to  assure  oneself  that  these  phenomena  are 
precisely  of  the  same  character  as  those  produced  through 
mediums.  We  observe,  in  fact,  in  these  cases,  all  the 
phenomena  which  we  have  studied  as  mediumistic,  from 
the  most  simple  up  to  the  most  complex. 

The  first  phenomenon  generally  observed  consists  of 
noises  which  are  heard  spontaneously :  these  are  knocks 
Avhich  are  apparently  struck  on  the  walls  or  on  the  furni- 
ture, creakings  and  rubbings  of  various  kinds,  sounds 
of  footsteps,  whistlings  and  various  cries,  and  sometimes 
very  loud  noises. 

It  is  clear  that  the  only  noises  and  phenomena  which 
interest  us  at  present  are  those  which  occur  out  of  reach 
of  any  human  being,  and  which  cannot  be  ascribed  to  any 
trickery. 

At  the  same  time  as  the  noises,  we  find  movements  of 
objects  taking  place  without  contact.  Pieces  of  furniture 
are  moved  about,  sometimes  overturned,  even  in  rooms 

02 


POLTERGEIST  PHENOMENA  93 

where  no  one  is  present  and  sometimes  when  they  are 
locked  up.  Articles  are  thrown  this  way  and  that,  in  the 
presence  of  several  people  :  often  fragile  objects  are  thrown 
to  the  ground  and  broken. 

In  the  third  place  we  find  apports ;  that  is  to  say, 
objects  which  were  not  previously  in  the  apartment  are 
spontaneously  brought  into  it,  and  seem  to  fall  from  the 
ceiling.  Objects  are  thus  transported  from  one  room  to 
another,  without  the  doors  or  the  windows  having  been 
opened,  and  without  any  one  being  able  to  ascertain  how 
they  came  into  the  room. 

Lastly,  but  in  very  rare  instances,  the  phenomenon  of 
materialisation  is  found  to  occur ;  that  is  to  say,  various 
forms  make  their  appearance  having  most  frequently  the 
aspect  of  phantoms. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  majority  of  the  phenomena  which 
are  obtamed  in  experiments  with  mediums  happen  suc- 
cessively :  nevertheless,  we  may  remark  that  spontaneous 
phenomena  present  certain  special  characteristics,  which 
we  shall  now  consider. 

Incoherence.  What  first  strikes  us,  when  we  observe 
these  phenomena,  is  their  absurdity.  Bells  are  set  ring- 
ing, lights  are  extinguished,  articles  are  removed  from 
their  places  and  taken  into  others  where  they  have  no 
right  to  be.  For  example,  cooking  utensils  are  carried  on 
to  beds,  boots  and  shoes  are  placed  on  mantelpieces, 
while  the  ornaments  on  the  latter  are  set  down  on  the 
floor.  Articles  arranged  in  cupboards  are  thrown  into 
disorder  and  mixed  up  confusedly  with  other  things. 

Violence  is  another  of  the  characteristics  of  these 
spontaneous  phenomena.  The  sounds  are  usually  loud, 
the  room  or  the  house  seems  to  be  shaken ;  sometimes 
it  is  thought  that  there  has  been  an  earthquake.  When 
objects  are  thrown,  it  is  usually  with  force.  It  seems  that 
the  force  manifested  in  these  movements  is  always  much 
greater  than  is  necessary  to  obtain  the  effect  produced. 

There  is  here  a  considerable  difference  between  the 
movements  obtained  by  the  experimental  externalisation 
of  the   force   of  the   medium.     In  the  experiments  the 


94  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

medium  makes  efforts  to  attain  a  definite  object ;  the 
force  employed  is  strictly  limited  to  the  anticipated  effect. 
Often  the  movement  is  produced  slowly,  and  as  though 
by  successive  efforts. 

The  roughness  of  the  spontaneous  force  is  one  of  its 
peculiar  traits.  The  furniture  is  not  moved  gently  as 
happens  in  experiments  with  a  medium,  but  is  thrown 
with  force  instead  of  being  carried  about,  and  often  the 
articles  are  broken.  Sometimes  it  even  seems  that  this 
force  is  exercised  with  a  malevolent  intention,  for  the 
purpose  of  causing  damage. 

Clumsiness  also  seems  to  be  a  characteristic  of  the 
force  thus  brought  into  play.  When  an  object  is  trans- 
ported from  one  point  to  another,  it  knocks  against  or 
overturns  others  on  its  way.  Other  articles  fall  to  the 
ground  before  arriving  at  the  place  to  which  they  were 
apparently  intended  to  be  transported.  Ornaments  on 
mantelpieces  or  tables  are  thrown  down  or  broken. 

In  experiments  with  mediums,  on  the  contrary,  the 
movements  are  effected  with  surprising  gentleness  and 
tact.  The  most  fragile  objects  on  a  whatnot  are  brought 
on  to  the  floor  without  accident ;  glasses  filled  with  liquid 
are  carried  over  the  hands  of  the  spectators  to  the  middle 
of  the  table,  the  table  is  raised  and  not  a  drop  of  the 
liquid  is  spilled.  It  seems  that  this  force,  which  is  the 
same  in  both  cases,  is  disorderly,  without  rule  or  restraint 
in  the  spontaneous  manifestations  ;  while  in  experimental 
phenomena  it  is  most  frequently  precise,  well  regulated, 
and  dexterous. 

In  all  cases  of  this  particular  kind  of  haunting  it  should 
be  noted  that  they  are  always  associated  Avith  the  presence 
of  a  medium. 

This  medium  is  in  the  house  or  belongs  to  the  family 
where  the  phenomena  are  produced,  or  to  the  neighbourhood. 

The  medium  is  usually  a  young  boy  or  girl,  sometimes 
a  child,  but  most  frequently  a  girl. 

We  observe  also  that  the  phenomena  are  greater  in 
intensity  when  produced  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
medium,  and  that  her  presence  seems  necessary  for  the 


POLTERGEIST   PHENOMENA  95 

production  of  the  phenomena.  When  the  medium  is 
far  removed  from  the  house  or  the  family  in  which  these 
manifestations  are  produced,  the  phenomena  cease. 

Sometimes  the  phenomena  are  produced  in  the  place 
to  which  the  medium  has  moved ;  but  most  frequently 
they  cease  altogether. 

The  following  account  of  manifestations  of  this 
character  was  published  in  the  Annates  des  Sciences 
Psychiques  as  an  extract  from  the  Wester7i  Gazette, 
January  11,  1895  : — 

"  The  little  village  of  Durweston,  situate  about  three 
miles  from  Blandford,  has  been  for  some  weeks  past  the 
scene  of  considerable  excitement  in  consequence  of  the 
supposition  that  one  of  its  cottages  is  haunted.  The 
cottage  in  question  is  one  of  a  double  tenement,  situate 
at  Norton — a  spot  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  village, 
some  considerable  distance  from  the  highway,  and  on 
the  outskirts  of  a  wood.  The  cottages  are  owned  by 
Viscount  Portman ;  his  keeper  (named  Newman)  occupies 
one,  and  the  other  until  recently  has  been  in  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  widow  (named  Mrs.  Best),  her  daughter,  and 
two  little  orphan  girls,  who  were  boarded  out  to  Mrs.  Best 
by  the  Honourable  Mrs.  Pitt,  of  Steepleton.  It  is  in  the 
latter  house  that  these  occurrences,  which  have  caused 
such  a  scare  in  the  village,  took  place.  More  than  a  month 
since  Mrs.  Best — who,  it  may  here  be  stated,  is  a  most 
respectable  woman,  of  a  quiet,  inoffensive  disposition,  and 
on  good  terms  with  her  neighbours  and  the  village  generally 
— became  puzzled  by  faint  knocking  and  scratching  in 
various  parts  of  the  house,  and  could  account  for  the  same 
in  no  possible  way.  As  days  passed  there  was  a  repeti- 
tion of  these  strange  noises,  which  gradually  increased  in 
loudness,  until  they  could  be  heard  by  the  keeper  New- 
man in  his  own  house.  About  a  fortnight  since,  these 
sounds — which  the  village  blacksmith  described  as  then 
being  as  heavy  as  sledge-hammer  blows — were  succeeded 
by  still  more  startling  events,  for,  according  to  Mrs.  Best's 
version,  stones  came  violently  through  the  bedroom 
windows,  smashing  the  panes,  and  then  returned  through 


96  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  windows.  The  neighbours  instituted  a  thorough 
search  of  the  surroundings  to  see  if  there  was  any  one 
hiding  who  was  playing  a  joke  upon  the  woman,  but 
there  was  not  the  slightest  trace  of  a  human  being,  nor 
of  footsteps." 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  Mr.  Westlake  proceeded 
to  Durweston  and  took  down  the  statements  of  some  of 
the  principal  witnesses — about  twenty  in  all. 

The  disturbances,  it  appears,  began  on  December  13, 
1894.  On  the  18th  December  Mr.  Newman  witnessed 
some  of  the  phenomena. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  Mr.  Westlake's  notes 
of  an  account  given  to  him  by  Mr.  Newman  on  the  23rd 
January  1895 : — 

"  On  Tuesday  (December  18th),  between  10  and  11  a.m., 
Mrs.  Best  sent  for  me,  and  told  me  that  Annie  (the  elder 
girl,  about  thirteen  years  of  age)  had  seen  a  boot  come  out 
of  the  garden  plot  and  strike  the  back  door,  leaving  a 
muddy  mark.  I  went  into  Mrs.  Best's,  and  I  saw  a  bead 
strike  the  window ;  and  then  soon  after,  a  big  blue  bead 
struck  the  window  and  broke  it,  and  fell  back.  Then 
a  little  toy  whistle  struck  the  window,  but  did  not  break 
it.  Then  I  sat  down  in  the  chair,  and  said :  "  You're  a 
coward,  you're  a  coward ;  why  don't  you  throw  money  ? " 
I  was  looking  at  the  door  opening  into  the  garden ;  it  was 
wide  open,  leaving  a  space  of  15  inches  between  it  and 
the  inner  wall,  when  I  saw  coming  from  behind  the  door 
a  quantity  of  little  shells.  They  came  round  the  door 
from  a  height  of  about  5  feet.  They  came  one  at  a  time, 
at  intervals  varying  from  half  a  minute  to  a  minute.  They 
came  very  slowly,  and  when  they  hit  me  I  could  hardly 
feel  them.  With  the  shells  came  two  thimbles.  They 
came  so  slowly,  that  in  the  ordinary  way  they  would  have 
dropped  long  before  they  reached  me.  They  came  from 
a  point,  some,  I  think,  a  trifle  higher,  and  some  no  higher, 
than  my  head.  Both  the  thimbles  struck  my  hat.  Some 
missed  my  head  and  went  just  past,  and  fell  down  slanting- 
wise  (not  as  if  suddenly  dropped).  Those  that  struck  me 
fell  straight  down. 


POLTERGEIST   PHENOMENA 


97 


Sox 


^/?a^Oiv\ 


Toit'et 
T6r6/e 


"  The  two  children  were  all  the  time  in  the  same  room 
with  me, 

"Then  right  from  behind  me  a  slate-pencil  came  as 
if  from  the  copper.  The  pencil  was  about  1\  inches  long, 
and  went  slowly  on  a  slant  to  a  bowl  on  the  floor  in  the 
pantry  ;  and  another  piece  went  in  the  same  direction  just 
over  the  bowl,  and  fell  into  a  pot  of  dirty  water. 

"  Then  a  hasp,  like  the  hasp  of  a  glove,  was  dropped 
into  my  lap  from  a  point  above  the  level  of  my  head. 

"I  never  saw  any  of  the  things  begin  to  move.     I 
saw  some  of  them  just  after  they  had  started.      The  time 
was  somewhere   between    10    and    11    a.m. — a  nice  clear 
day;   I  don't  remem- 
ber whether  there  was  Sou  r >• 
sunlight. 

"  A  boot  then  came 
in  from  outside  the 
door.  It  came  in 
moving  along  a  foot 
above  the  ground,  and 
pitched  down.  The 
boot  had  been  lying 
right  in  front  of  the 
door,  where  it  had  pre- 
viously fallen.  This 
boot  came  towards  me, 
and  fell  down  just  at 
my  side.  Mrs.  Best 
took  it  and  threw  it  out 
— it  was  an  old  dirty 
boot  from  off  the  gar- 
den plot  (it  was  a  woman's  boot).  I  think  the  boot  moved 
about  as  slowly  as  the  other  things,  but  cannot  quite 
remember.     It  finally  fell  softly. 

"  After  the  boot  was  thrown  out  into  the  garden,  I  went 
out  and  put  my  foot  on  it,  and  said,  "  I  defy  anything  to 
move  this  boot."  Just  as  I  stepped  ofi",  it  rose  up  behind 
me  and  knocked  my  hat  off;  there  was  no  one  behind  me. 
The  boot  and  the  hat  fell  down  together. 

G 


o 


Be<^ 


O  Mrs.  Bsst. 


98  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  A  few  days  later  the  two  children,  with  their  foster- 
mother,  Mrs.  Best — a  woman,  it  should  be  said,  of  about 
sixty  years — went  to  stay  in  Mr.  Newman's  cottage  for 
some  days.  Whilst  they  were  there  the  Rector  of  Dur- 
■  weston,  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Anderson,  came  to  witness  the 
phenomena.  On  his  first  visit  (Friday,  the  4th  January 
1895)  nothing  took  place.  On  Thursday,  January  10th,  he 
went  again,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Sheppard,  the  school- 
master. Mrs.  Best  took  the  two  children  upstairs  and  put 
them  to  bed,  herself  lying  down  in  the  bed  with  them. 
The  chart  on  p.  97  shows  the  disposition  of  the  furniture. 

"  Loud  rappings  were  heard,  apparently  on  the  walls  in 
different  parts  of  the  room.  Mr.  Sheppard  went  outside 
the  house  to  see  that  no  one  was  playing  tricks  from  out- 
side, whilst  the  Rector  remained  within,  the  noises  still 
continuing.  Subjoined  is  an  extract  from  Mr.  Anderson's 
account,  written  on  the  25th  January  1895,  of  the  events 
of  that  evening  : — 

"  I  put  my  ear  and  hand  to  the  wall,  but  could  not 
detect  any  vibration ;  but  when  resting  my  hand  on  the 
rail  at  the  bottom  of  the  bed,  I  could  distinctly  feel  a 
vibration  varying  according  to  the  loudness  of  the  knock- 
ing. It  is,  perhaps,  needless  to  say  that  I  searched  the 
room  and  the  house,  also  Mrs.  Best's  house  from  top  to 
bottom.  Occasionally  there  was  a  noise  on  the  wall,  as  if 
some  one  were  scratching  with  their  nails.  This  scratch- 
ing also  appeared  to  be  produced  on  the  mattress  of  the 
bed,  although  I  am  sure  it  was  not  produced  by  any  of 
the  three  occupants  of  the  bed,  as  I  could  see  their  hands, 
and  watched  them  very  closely  all  the  time. 

"  There  was  a  lighted  lamp,  a  small  hand-lamp  giving  a 
good  light,  on  the  washstand  the  whole  time.  When  the 
rapping  first  began,  I  noticed  that  it  frequently  ceased 
when  I  came  into  the  room,  but  after  a  short  time  it 
made  no  difference,  and  was  loud  and  continuous  when 
every  inmate  of  the  house  was  in  the  room.  About  2.15 
A.M.  it  was  suggested  by  some  one,  I  believe  Mr.  Shep- 
pard, that  the  '  agency '  should  be  asked  whether  it 
would  write  any  communication  on  a  slate  ;  the  number 


POLTERGEIST  PHENOMENA  99 

of  raps  requested  for  an  affirmative  were  given.  There 
was  no  slate  in  the  Newmans'  house,  but  Mrs.  Best  told 
us  where  we  should  find  one  in  her  house.  Newman,  Mr, 
Sheppard,  and  myself  went  into  her  house,  found  the  slate 
and  a  piece  of  pencil,  and  returned.  In  reply  to  several 
questions  as  to  where  the  slate  was  to  be  placed,  the 
number  of  knocks  asked  for  was  given  for  the  window-sill 
(inside,  of  course),  the  sill  being  some  nine  or  ten  inches 
wide.  I  may  mention  that  every  conceivable  place  in  the 
room  was  suggested  one  after  the  other,  but  the  right  num- 
ber of  raps  was  not  given,  but  a  short,  sharp  knock,  which 
seemed  always  to  be  given  for  a  negative.  We  almost 
gave  up  at  this  point,  until,  as  an  afterthought,  I  sug- 
gested the  window-sill,  which  was  at  once  accepted.  The 
next  question  was  as  to  who  was  to  remain  in  the  room, 
and  according  to  the  knocks  every  one  was  to  leave,  except 
the  two  children  and  Mrs.  Best ;  the  light  was  also  to  be 
removed.  The  sign  to  be  given  when  the  writing  was 
finished  was  four  raps.  We  all  retired  down  the  stairs, 
which  are  about  ten  in  number,  and  straight.  I  remained 
at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  with  the  bedroom  door  wide 
open  ;  it  was  very  dark  at  the  time.  Some  fifteen  seconds 
elapsed,  and  amid  perfect  silence  we  all  heard  the  pencil 
scratching  on  the  slate.  Mrs.  Best  gave  a  suppressed 
groan,  which  I  could  distinctly  hear.  Four  sharp  raps 
were  given  almost  simultaneously  with  the  dropping  of  the 
pencil  on  the  slate,  and  Mrs.  Best  gave  a  loud,  screaming 
call,  '  Come  ! '  I  was  in  the  room  instantly  ;  the  whole 
thing  taking  less  time  than  it  would  take  to  read  this 
description.  The  light  showed  some  unmeaning  scratches 
on  the  slate.  We  asked  for  something  legible,  which  was 
promised  in  the  usual  way.  It  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  we  could  persuade  Mrs.  Best  to  remain  in 
the  room  a  second  time,  but  we  prevailed  on  her  to  do 
so ;  I  promised  to  remain  on  the  stairs.  The  second  time 
a  flourish  (something  like  this)  was  on  the  slate — 


100  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  Only  the  curves  were  beautifully  drawn,  with  firm,  bold 
lines,  such  as  no  child  could  produce.  The  same  proceed- 
ings took  place  a  third  time,  when 

M 

MONY 


was  found  on  the  slate, 

and  the  fourth  time 

0 

/     0 

GARDEN 

(  iardin 

0 

\     0 

Every  time  I  was  nearer  to  the  bedroom  door,  which  was 
wide  ojDen  and  opposite  the  window.  The  last  two  or 
three  times  I  was  so  close  that  I  could  almost  hear  Mrs. 
Best  breathe,  the  silence  being  death-like.  The  slightest 
movement  by  any  one  in  the  bed  would  have  been  de- 
tected by  me  in  a  moment,  and  I  am  absolutely  certain 
that  the  writing  could  not  have  been  done  by  any  one  in  the 
room  without  my  knowing  it.  On  one  occasion  the  pencil 
rolled  off  on  to  the  floor,  and  was  broken  in  two  pieces. 

"  Mrs.  Best  cannot  write  ;  the  younger  child  cannot,  she 
was  asleep;  Annie  Cleave  can.  I  told  Mrs.  Best  that  I 
was  myself  convinced  that  no  one  had  moved  in  the  bed 
much  less  left  it,  but  I  said  people  would  say  this  had 
been  the  case.  She  said  she  was  prepared  to  take  a 
solemn  oath  that  none  of  them  had  moved  or  left  the 
bed,  which  was  some  four  feet  or  more  from  the  Avindow. 

"  We  could  get  no  more  replies  in  the  way  of  raps,  and 
nothing  more  was  heard  that  night.  Mr.  Sheppard  and  I 
left  at  ten  minutes  to  three. 

"  I  should  like  to  say  a  word  about  the  characters  of 
those  who  have  witnessed  and  heard  these  abnormal  phe- 
nomena. With  one  exception  (Spinney)  the}'  are  all 
known  to  me  personally,  and  the  veracity  and  honesty  of 
them  all  is  beyond  question.  Mrs.  Best  is  an  earnest 
Christian  woman,  who  bears  perhaps  the  highest  char- 
acter in  the  village. 

"  Later  the  children  were  taken  to  another  house  in  the 
village,  where  raps  and  other  noises  were  heard ;  and  were 
finally  separated,  the  elder  child,  Annie,  being  removed  to 


POLTERGEIST   PHENOMENA  10V 

another  village,  Iwerne  Minster,  to  the  house  of  a  single 
woman.  There  the  disturbance  still  continued:  noises 
were  heard,  generally  on  the  outer  walls  of  the  house ;  a 
big  stone  was  flung  on  the  roof  of  the  porch ;  and  snow- 
drops were  dug  up  out  of  the  garden  and  flung  about. 
On  March  7th,  Miss  W.  H.  Mason,  Local  Government 
Board  Inspector  of  Boarded-out  Children,  came  down  and 
took  the  child  Annie  to  stay  in  her  flat  in  London  for  a 
week.  No  disturbance  worth  recording  took  place  during 
her  stay  in  London." 

Miss  Mason  had  the  child  examined  by  a  doctor,  who 
pronounced  her  of  a  markedly  consumptive  tendency, 
and  apparently  hysterical.  A  sister  two  years  older  than 
herself  has  died  of  consumption.  According  to  another 
witness,  Annie,  during  the  earlier  disturbances,  saw  a 
queer  animal  with  green  head  and  green  eyes  and  a  big 
bushy  tail,  sitting  up  and  pulling  her  doll  to  pieces  with 
its  paws.  Gertie,  the  younger  girl,  she  added,  saw  the 
same  apparition  when  Annie  called  her. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

HAUNTED    HOUSES 

The  following  case  of  a  haunted  house  is  of  special 
interest,  as  it  was  observed  by  Professor  Lombroso,  whom 
no  one  would  suspect  of  an  excess  of  credulity,  or  of  being 
a  victim  to  suggestions  resulting  from  his  surroundings. 
This  case,  therefore,  presents  guarantees  of  authenticity. 

The  Turin  newspaper  La  Stmnpa,  in  its  issue  of 
November  19,  1900,  mentioned  some  extraordinary 
phenomena  which  were  occurring  in  a  wine  and  spirit 
shop  at  No.  6,  Via  Bava,  Turin. 

For  those  unacquainted  with  the  topography  of  Turin, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  that  the  Via  Bava  is  in  the 
suburb  of  Vanchiga,  and  commences  at  the  Piazza  Vittorio- 
Emmanuele  I.  On  the  day  mentioned  La  Stampa  was 
brought  to  my  notice. 

Whilst  I  was  casting  a  rapid  glance  over  this  paper  I 
was  struck  by  this  pompous  title,  "  The  Spirit  Devastators 
of  the  Via  Bava."  Naturally,  without  taking  up  the  time 
to  read  this  lengthy  account,  and  fearing  that  I  should 
arrive  too  late  (because  in  these  cases  one  cannot  arrive 
too  quickly),  I  quickly  got  into  everybody's  carriage — the 
tram-car — which  took  me  in  twenty  minutes  to  the  scene 
of  action.  Alas !  too  late  !  However,  if  the  entertainment 
itself  was  over  there  were  at  least  the  spectators,  who 
could  themselves,  in  turn,  serve  as  entertainers. 

In  the  street  a  crowd  of  persons  of  all  classes  were 
struggling  for  entrance  into  the  wine-shop  ;  and  in  the  shop 
itself  a  veritable  swarm  of  drinkers  were  seated  at  the  tables, 
and  occupying  themselves,  between  glasses,  by  composing 
epigrams  about  the  spirits  who  to-day  were  dumb ;  others 
were  trying  to  push  their  way  through  with  their  elbows, 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  103 

in  order  to  make  inquiries  of  everybody  ;  to  hear  some- 
thing related,  to  see,  to  touch,  to  examine,  commencing 
with  the  bottles  and  the  saucepans,  even  to  the  chairs, 
which,  it  is  said,  were  broken,  and  several  of  which  were 
transported  from  one  place  to  another. 

At  the  far  end  of  the  shop,  at  the  counter,  through 
a  cloud  of  smoke  and  dust,  we  could  distinguish  a  tall, 
corpulent,  red-faced  man  (the  landlord),  who  was  turning 
and  bending  to  right  and  left,  holding  in  one  hand  a  bottle 
of  wine  and  receiving  in  the  other  his  customers'  money, 
in  the  midst  of  a  tempest  of  voices,  cries,  commands,  and 
protestations  from  all  directions.  Sometimes  the  price 
of  the  wine  drunk  by  one  customer,  who  had  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  crowd  to  slip  away  unseen,  would  be  demanded 
from  another;  the  anger  of  the  master  fell  upon  the 
waiter,  a  boy  of  thirteen  years  of  age,  who  would  have 
needed  a  hundred  eyes  and  a  hundred  arms  to  have  met 
the  wants  of  everybody,  and — most  important  thing  of  all 
— to  make  them  pay. 

In  a  word,  it  was  impossible  in  the  midst  of  such  a 
Noah's  Ark  to  take  account  of  anything.  It  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  I  succeeded  in  getting  a  few  words 
with  the  master  and  mistress  of  the  house.  I  interrogated 
one  or  two  other  persons  and  then  went  out. 

I  returned  the  same  evening,  Avithout  obtaining  any 
better  result.  A  still  denser  crowd  barred  the  way,  and 
the  wine-shop  was  that  evening  closed  by  order  of  the 
police  to  prevent  disturbance. 

The  report  was  spread  at  the  same  time  that  the 
phenomena  had  not  been  renewed.  For  some  time  I 
found  it  impossible  to  go  into  the  matter,  and  when 
eventually  I  returned  to  the  Via  Bava  all  was  completely 
restored  to  order  and  I  was  compelled  to  content  myself 
with  obtaining  the  evidence  which  I  give  here. 

If  it  was  not  possible  to  see  anything  I  could,  however, 
make  some  reflections,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  I  have 
prefaced  my  account  with  this  long  rambling  statement. 

Why  had  so  many  people  been  set  in  motion  by  the 
simple  title  of  a  newspaper  article  ? 


104  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Did  they  expect  to  discover  the  trick  ?  I  ought  to 
state  that  I  found  in  the  place  not  only  some  idle  and 
common  people,  and  students,  but  also  some  people  who 
are  usually  called  serious-minded,  and  who  had  come  there 
not  to  make  a  noise  and  laugh  at  credulous  people,  but 
with  the  simple  desire  to  see,  and  impelled  by  the  example 
of  others. 

I  hope  that  this  may  be  a  good  sign — that  is  to  say, 
that  this  denotes  the  slow  but  continuous  infiltration 
among  the  masses  of  beliefs  formerly  regarded  as 
erroneous. 

I  will  now  give  the  facts  in  the  following  order.  First, 
I  will  state  in  an  objective  manner  the  simple  outline  of 
the  facts :  with  the  warning,  however,  that  they  come  from 
the  tales  of  witnesses  of  very  diverse  values,  and  that  they 
should  only  be  accepted  for  what  they  are  worth. 

Then  I  will  transcribe  the  written  declarations  which  I 
have  obtained  from  several  witnesses,  reserving  to  myself 
the  criticism  of  the  facts  and  testimony  in  accordance  with 
my  personal  judgment. 

The  Facts 

In  order  to  make  the  phenomena  more  compre- 
hensible it  will,  perhaps,  be  useful  to  describe  the  place 
where  they  occurred.  I  have  stated  that  it  was  in  a  wine 
and  spirit  shop.  No.  6,  Via  Bava,  known  as  the  Bottigheria 
Cinzano.     I  will  here  give  the  plan. 

A.  The  first  room,  for  the  use  of  customers. 

1.  Entrance  door  which  opens  on  to  the  Via  Bava. 

2.  Window. 

B.  Second  room,    devoted    to  the  same  purpose  as   the 

former. 

3.  Door  opening  on  to  a  corridor  which  communicates 

with  the  hall  of  the  house. 

4.  Window  looking  on  to  the  court. 

5.  Opening  covered  by  a  simple  cloth  curtain,  through 

Avhich  one  passes  to  a  small  room  C,  which  serves 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  105 

as  a  kitchen  and  living  room  for  the  people  of  the 
house.  This  room  is  lighted  by  a  window  (6),  and 
communicates  with  a  garret  (used  as  a  bedroom)  by 
means  of  a  small  staircase.  The  persons  inhabiting 
this  place  were  the  landlord  named  Fumero,  his 
wife,  and  ailad  of  thirteen  years  employed  as  waiter. 

The  beginning  of  the  phenomena  dates  back  to  the 
early  days  of  November.  M.  Raynero,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Annonciata  Baths,  situated  at  51,  Via  del  Po,  Avas  a 
friend  of  the  Fumero  family,  and  was  informed  at  the 
commencement  of  November  of  the  phenomena  which  had 
for  some  time  past  been  occurring  in  that  house.  A  cat 
seemed  to  be  taken  with  strange  mad  attacks ;  it  jumped 
as  though  possessed,  and  threw  down  the  bottles. 

The  food  which  had  been  placed  in  the  kitchen  cup- 
board in  the  evening  disappeared  during  the  night, and  so  on. 

But,  on  November  16th,  the  phenomena  commenced 
which  caused  a  stir  in  the  whole  district.  On  the  morning 
of  that  day  only  the  woman  and  the  boy  were  in  the  shop. 
They  both  stated  that  first  of  all  a  vessel  containing  some 
liquor,  which  was  on  the  kitchen  table,  overturned  of  its 
own  accord ;  then  other  vessels  were  thrown  down  and 
broken,  and  then  began  a  mad  dance,  in  which  the  furni- 
ture, saucepans,  and  all  kinds  of  things  took  part.  Some 
were  dented,  others  broken,  and  others  disappeared. 

Fumero's  wife  fainted  away  through  fright,  the  neigh- 
bours ran  in  and  telegraphed  to  her  husband,  who  was 
away  from  Turin,  and  he  returned  that  evening.  All 
through  the  day,  in  the  presence  of  several  people,  tables 
chairs,  and  utensils  danced.  Some  garments  were  thrown 
down  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  chamber  and  damaged. 
They  were  taken  back  to  their  place,  and  they  were  again 
thrown  down  with  still  greater  violence  by  an  invisible 
hand  which  seemed  to  make  sport  of  the  general  fright. 

The  phenomena  continued  in  the  same  way  on  the  17th 
and  the  following  days  with  a  few  moments  of  respite. 

In  the  meantime  other  things  occurred  in  addition  to 
those  already  mentioned,  but  outside  the  house. 


106  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

M.  Fumero  had  several  cellars  in  the  basement,  and  one 
of  these  was  under  the  room  B,  and  was  only  used  for 
storing  bottles.  It  was  ascertained  that  when  any  one 
went  into  this  cellar,  and  even  in  the  absence  of  persons 
the  bottles,  empty  or  full,  were  broken,  always  by  the  work 
of  the  same  unknown  agents. 

It  was  stated  that  a  priest,  who  had  been  asked  to  bless 
the  place,  immediately  took  flight,  because  he  obtained 
results  exactly  the  opposite  to  what  he  had  expected.  The 
police  came  in  their  turn,  but  they  were  powerless ;  many 
even  maintained  that  the  guards  and  their  superior  officers 
served  as  involuntary  targets  for  the  projectiles  thrown  by 
the  unknown  hand. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  appears  that  the  police  gave  a 
hint  to  poor  Fumero,  that  these  things  must  cease,  by 
love  or  by  force.  Fumero  understood  and  complied,  being 
already  greatly  annoyed  by  the  material  and  moral  damage 
he  had  suffered.  Thus  when  Cesar  Lombroso  went  to  the 
shop  on  November  21st,  he  was  told  (without  knowledge 
as  to  who  he  was)  that  Professor  Lombroso  had  been  and 
that  everything  had  ceased.  Lombroso  then  revealed  his 
identity,  and,  going  down  into  the  cellar,  was  able  to  verify 
the  phenomena  of  which  we  shall  speak  later. 

On  November  22nd,  Mme.  Fumero,  acting  on  advice, 
went  to  Nole  Canavese,  her  native  place.  She  remained 
there  three  days,  during  which  time  nothing  unusual 
occurred,  either  at  Via  Bava  or  at  Nole.  On  her  return  to 
Turin,  the  phenomena  reappeared  in  an  altered  form,  but 
substantially  the  same. 

On  November  26th,  Mme.  Fumero  went  away  again, 
but  this  time  the  phenomena  continued. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  migration  of  the  shoes  took 
place,  as  related  in  the  attestation  of  M.  Raynero,  The 
wife  returned  to  Turin  and  the  phenomena  ceased  at  the 
end  of  November — that  is  to  say,  only  Avhen,  after  it  was 
seen  that  they  were  not  due  merely  to  the  presence  of 
Mme.  Fumero,  it  Avas  decided  to  discharge  the  waiter.  He 
went  to  another  shop  in  the  same  street,  but  nothing  out 
of  the  ordinary  happened,  and  so  the  matter  ended. 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  107 

Evidence  Collected 

Negative  Evidence. — This  was  furnished  by  the  police, 
by  several  Turin  newspapers,  by  all  those  who  had  seen 
nothing  ;  and,  finally,  by  the  cure  of  the  parish  of  I'Annon- 
ciata  (Via  del  Po),  who  remained  for  two  hours  in  the  place 
and  not  only  saw  nothing  abnormal,  but  was  convinced 
that  there  was  nothing  but  joking  and  deception  in  the 
whole  affair. 

Positive  Evidence. — There  were  numerous  positive 
testimonies ;  therefore  I  have  only  collected  the  most 
important  ones,  or  those  which  seemed  to  me  to  be 
most  worthy  of  confidence. 

Attestation  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Wine-shop  and  of 
two  Custoiners 

"  We  declare  that  we  were  present  several  times  at  the 
Bottigheria  Cinzano,  6,  Via  Bava,  during  the  month  of 
November  1900,  when  some  strange  occurrences  occurred, 
such  as  the  spontaneous  movements  of  objects,  break- 
ing of  bottles,  &c.,  which  we  could  not  attribute  to  any 
practical  joking  or  fraud  whatever. 
"  In  virtue  of  which  we  sign  : 

"  Bartholomeo   Fumero,  Proprietor   of  the 

Bottigheria  Cinzano. 
"  Antoinette  Fumero,  wife  of  the  above. 
"  Carlo  Degostini,  Maker  of  Macaroni,  7,  Via 

Pescator. 
"  Felice  Hoppetti,  Carpenter,  5,  Via  Bava. 

"Turin,  December  15,  1900." 

The  following  declaration  was  written  by  myself  in  the 
presence  of  the  witness,  in  accordance  with  his  own 
narrative. 

Attestation  of  Raynero 

"  I,  the  undersigned,  proprietor  of  the  Baths  of  the 
I'Annonciata,  at  51,  Via  del  Po,  attest  upon  my  honour  that 
what  is  here  said  is  in  conformity  with  the  truth  and  the 


108  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

absolute  conviction  I  have  formed  as  to  the  real  existence 
of  the  inexplicable  facts  which  happened  during  the  month 
of  November  in  the  Bottigheria  Cinzano  at  6,  Via  Bava. 
The  following  are  two  facts  to  which  I  can  best  testify — 

1.  "  On  November  27th,  I  was  in  the  front  room  (A) 
of  the  wine-shop  in  company  with  M.  Fumero,  whose  wife 
had  gone  to  Nole.  I  was  seated  at  a  table  (a)  with  another 
person.  The  waiter  was  in  the  back  room  (B)  engaged  in 
washing  bottles,  in  a  corner  where  I  could  clearly  see  him 
all  the  time.  Suddenly  two  shoes,  which  came  from  the 
kitchen,  fell  at  my  feet.  I  instantly  hastened  to  the  kitchen, 
followed  by  M.  Fumero,  to  catch  the  joker — if  there  was 
one — in  the  act.  I  mounted  the  staircase  which  led  to  the 
garret,  but  could  find  no  one  there;  I  was  then  convinced 
that  the  shoes  came  of  themselves  to  my  feet.  Previously 
the  shoes  must  have  been  in  their  usual  place.  I  saw 
them  while  they  were  still  in  the  air.  The  waiter,  during 
the  phenomenon,  had  not  moved  from  the  spot  where  he 
had  previously  been. 

2.  "  I  was  in  the  cellar  with  M.  Merini,  Accountant, 
and  while  I  held  a  lighted  candle  in  my  hand,  I  saw  some 
full  bottles  thrown  over  and  broken.  Immediately  after 
M.  Merini  had  remarked  that  the  fermentation  of  the  wine 
might  be  the  cause  of  the  disturbance,  some  empty  bottles 
began  to  break.  Certainly  no  one  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  breaking  of  these  articles. 

"  These  two  facts,  more  than  anything  else,  led  me  to 
the  belief  that  the  phenomena  which  occurred  in  the 
refreshment  room  could  not  be  due  to  any  fraud,  either 
on  the  part  of  Fumero's  wife  or  of  the  waiter,  or,  indeed, 
of  anybody  else. 

"  I  must  therefore  recede  from  the  opinion  that  I  first 
expressed  when  Mme.  Fumero  told  me  of  the  mad  antics 
of  the  cat,  the  disappearance  of  food,  &c.,  that  she  and 
the  waiter  were  doubtless  subject  to  some  malady  which 
induced  them  to  commit  these  acts  in  secrecy. 

"Christofle  Raynero. 

"Turin,  December  22,  1900." 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  109 

I  also  drew  up  the  following  declaration  of  M.  Merini, 
the  Accountant,  who  was  not  able  himself  to  find  time  for 
that  purpose.  It  may,  however,  be  considered  as  exactly 
agreeing  with  his  opinions,  and  as  giving  each  of  his  state- 
ments its  proper  value. 


Attestation  of  the  Accountant,  M,  Merini 

"  I  learnt  about  the  phenomena  of  Via  Bava  through 
the  newspapers  of  other  towns  some  days  after  they  first 
happened.  I  went  immediately  to  the  Bottigheria  Cin- 
zano, 6,  Via  Bava. 

"It  was  an  afternoon  between  November  19th  and 
25th.  I  was  unwilling  to  believe  the  facts  which  were 
reported,  but  I  was  nevertheless  inclined  to  accept  them  if 
I  could  be  present  at  some  absolutely  clear  manifestation, 
I  arrived  at  the  spot  at  a  time  when,  according  to  the 
persons  present,  the  manifestations  were  in  full  swing. 
Those  whom  I  questioned  related  many  marvellous  things, 
among  which  I  noted  evident  exaggeration  of  details,  and 
some  contradictions ;  then,  learning  that  manifestations 
had  taken  place  in  the  cellar,  before  any  one  was  there,  I 
expressed  a  desire  to  go  there  myself. 

"  There  (in  the  cellar),  in  company  with  several  other 
persons,  I  saw  bottles  break  without  apparent  and  reason- 
able cause.  I  wished  to  remain  alone,  the  better  to  verify 
the  phenomenon.  The  other  persons  having  assented  to 
this  proposal,  I  shut  myself  up  in  the  cellar,  while  all  the 
rest  withdrew  to  the  end  of  the  passage,  from  which  the 
staircase  leads  to  the  upper  floor.  I  began  by  assuring 
myself,  with  the  aid  of  a  candle,  that  I  was  really  alone. 
This  examination  was  easy,  thanks  to  the  smallness  of  the 
cellar,  and  the  difficulty  that  there  would  have  been  in 
hiding  behind  the  few  utensils  which  were  in  it.  Along 
the  walls,  lengthwise  of  the  cellar,  there  was  a  series  of 
strong  beams  supported  at  each  end  by  posts.  The  planks 
resting  on  these  beams  were  completely  covered  with 
bottles,  empty  and  full.     I  also  observed  that  the  window 


110  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

looking  out  on  the  courtyard,  which  formerly  served  to 
light  the  cellar,  was  at  that  time  obstructed  by  a  plank. 

"  I  then  saw  several  empty  and  full  bottles  break  of 
themselves  before  my  eyes.  I  placed  a  ladder  near  the 
spot  where  they  broke  most  frequently,  and  mounted  to 
the  top  rung.  I  took  an  empty  bottle  which  had  been 
broken  shortly  before,  and  of  which  only  the  lower  half 
remained;  I  separated  it  from  the  others,  placing  it  at 
some  distance  from  where  it  had  previously  been,  namely, 
on  the  top  of  one  of  the  posts  which  supported  the  shelves. 
After  a  few  minutes  the  bottle  broke  again  and  flew  into 
splinters.  This  is  one  of  the  facts  which  I  can  certify 
most  precisely. 

"  On  examining  attentively  the  manner  in  which  the 
bottles  broke,  I  was  able  to  make  out  that  the  fracture  was 
preceded  by  the  special  cracking  noise  peculiar  to  breaking 
glass.  I  had  already  observed  that  the  empty  bottles 
broke  in  this  way,  from  which  it  was  evident  that  the 
explosion  could  not  be  due  to  the  pressure  of  gas  produced 
by  fermentation,  which  besides  was  very  improbable. 

"  To  give  an  idea  of  the  noise  made  by  the  bottles  in 
breaking,  and  of  the  way  in  which  they  crumbled  to 
pieces,  I  will  add  that  it  might  be  compared  to  the 
breaking  of  those  drops  of  glass  which  fly  into  powder 
when  they  are  scratched,  and  which  are  known  as  Prince 
Rupert's  Drops. 

"As  to  the  mysterious  cause  of  these  phenomena,  I 
confess  that,  although  I  had  no  reason  to  be  afraid,  I 
always  experienced  in  their  presence  a  certain  feeling  of 
astonishment  and  fear,  for  which  I  can  give  no  reason ; 
except  that  I  recognised  that  the  cause  of  these  pheno- 
mena was  an  intelligent  one  and  uncontrollable  by  any 
person's  will.  In  other  words,  if  I  were  convinced  that 
spirits  existed,  I  should  truly  have  to  say  that  they  were 
the  invisible  authors  of  this  uproar.  I  state  this  explicitly, 
because  I  confess  that  before  seeing  such  things  I  was 
far  from  believing  that  they  could  produce  such  an  effect 
on  me. 

"  I  declare  on  my  word  of  honour  that  the  foregoing 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  111 

is  the  truth,  and  that  I  am  sure  that   I  was   not  the 
victim  of  illusion  or  fraud. 

"  FiETRO  Merini,  Accountant. 

"TuEiK,  9,  Via  Pietro  Micca, 
"  January  9,  1901." 

Phenomena  observed  by  Professor  Lombroso 

"  I  went  into  the  cellar,  at  first  in  complete  darkness, 
and  heard  a  noise  of  broken  glasses,  and  bottles  rolled  at 
my  feet.  The  bottles  were  ranged  in  six  compartments 
one  above  another.  In  the  middle  was  a  rough  table  on 
which  I  had  six  lighted  candles  placed,  supposing  that 
the  spirit  phenomena  would  cease  in  the  bright  light. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  I  saw  three  empty  bottles,  standing 
on  the  ground,  roll  as  though  pushed  by  a  finger,  and 
break  near  the  table.  To  obviate  any  possible  trick,  I 
felt  and  carefully  examined  by  the  light  of  a  candle  all 
the  full  bottles  which  were  on  the  racks,  and  assured 
myself  that  there  was  no  cord  or  string  which  could 
explain  their  movements. 

"  After  a  few  minutes  first  two,  then  four,  then  two 
other  bottles  on  the  second  and  third  racks  detached 
themselves  and  fell  to  the  ground,  not  suddenly,  but  as 
though  carried  by  some  one ;  and  after  their  descent,  rather 
than  fall,  six  of  them  broke  on  the  wet  floor,  already 
soaked  with  wine;  only  two  remained  whole.  Then  at 
the  moment  of  leaving  the  cellar,  just  as  I  was  going  out, 
I  heard  another  bottle  break." 

Criticism  of  Evidence 

In  case  any  reader  should  find  the  following  pages 
scarcely  in  harmony  with  the  title  of  this  section,  I  would 
ask  him  to  reflect  on  the  difficulty  experienced,  in  this 
case,  m  collecting  the  facts  and  recording  them  in  such 
a  way  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  their  authenticity,  so  that 
some  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  them. 

If  you  go  to  the  shop  in  the  Via  Bava,  you  will  hear 


112  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

related  by  one,  and  then  another,  a  thousand  different 
incidents,  and  it  will  seem  to  you  that  there  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  their  authenticity. 

But  take  the  pains  to  question  them,  insisting  on 
such  and  such  a  point,  and  you  will  immediately  per- 
ceive that  nearly  all  your  interlocutors  contradict  them- 
selves on  points  they  had  previously  affirmed,  or  do  not 
agree  with  some  one  who  was  present  at  the  same  events, 
and  you  will  be  persuaded  that  all  was  merely  a  trick  or 
a  hallucination. 

If  that  astonishes  you,  I  may  tell  )^ou  that  nothing  on 
the  contrary  is  more  natural. 

In  fact,  it  is  sufficient  to  reflect  that  if  we  cannot  regard 
as  always  exempt  from  error  even  those  who  are  endowed 
with  the  scientific  training  which  is  indispensable  in  such 
cases,  and  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  difficulties 
(which  cannot  always  be  foreseen)  presented  by  the  veri- 
fication of  mediumistic  phenomena,  it  will  be  much  worse 
still  for  those  who,  while  possessing  scientific  aptitudes, 
do  not  possess  the  experience  which  is  gained  by  studying 
various  mediums. 

From  that  it  follows  that  many  studious  and  learned 
persons  have  fallen  into  gross  errors. 

To  mention  only  one  of  these,  I  will  refer  to  the  sup- 
posed imposture  of  all  the  mediums  from  1848  up  till 
to-day.  Thus  any  amateur  investigator  of  spiritism,  who 
possesses  perhaps  a  name  honourably  known  in  other 
branches,  can  allow  himself  to  joke  about  experiments  of 
Crookes — to  quote  the  name  of  a  known  experimenter — 
because  on  reading  his  account  he  found  he  could  make 
such  or  such  an  objection ;  or  because,  having  decided  to 
hold  a  seance,  he  observed  that  the  materialised  form  of 
Katie  King  resembled  that  of  the  medium,  a  thing  which 
could  not  happen  if  Katie  King  was  a  person  having  a 
separate  existence,  &c.  &c. 

This  is  the  sort  of  confusion  of  ideas  which  is  produced 
by  incompetent  men.  It  seems  to  me  like  a  surgeon  per- 
forming a  delicate  operation  on  a  sick  person  after  having 
studied  human  anatomy  only  in  the  text-books. 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  113 

But  a  truce  to  digressions.  Therefore,  if  those  who 
ought  to  show  themselves  competent,  permit  themselves 
to  form  certain  judgments,  what  can  a  poor  joiner  or  wine- 
seller,  both  almost  without  education,  tell  you  that  is 
serious  or  worthy  of  belief  ? 

There  is,  however,  one  thing  which  has  some  value  if 
regarded  with  a  certain  breadth  of  view.  If,  for  example, 
the  four  witnesses  whose  names  appear  at  the  foot  of  the 
first  attestation  find  it  difficult  to  agree  among  themselves, 
in  describing  such  or  such  a  fact,  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave 
no  doubt  as  to  its  truth,  they  are  not  therefore  fools  ; 
far  from  that.  If  they  have  had  little  education,  they 
have  had  experience  as  men  who  have  seen  life,  and  we 
cannot  refuse  to  place  a  certain  amount  of  confidence 
in  them  when  they  tell  us  decisively  and  with  an 
enthusiastic  conviction  :  "I  have  seen."  And  the  same 
may  be  said  of  many  other  persons  who  repeat  the  same 
refrain:  "  I  have  seen." 

And  that  is  why  those  who,  from  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  placed,  ought  to  have  been  better  able  than 
the  others  to  state  the  facts  precisely  as  they  happened,  are 
those  who,  on  the  contrary,  have  given  the  least  precise 
account,  and  hence  the  vagueness  of  the  first  attestation. 

The  second,  signed  by  Raynero,  is  more  extended,  and 
states  precisely  two  important  facts — the  throwing  of  shoes 
by  an  unknown  hand,  and  the  spontaneous  breaking  of  the 
bottles  in  the  cellar ;  moreover,  his  manner  of  telling  the 
story  inspires  more  confidence,  because  he  allows  himself 
to  be  less  carried  away  than  the  others  into  exaggeration 
of  the  facts,  while  relating  them  with  earnest  conviction. 
I  do  not,  however,  consider  that  we  can  blindly  accept  his 
evidence  on  one  point — that  which  deals  with  the  con- 
clusions which  he  draws  from  the  facts ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  non-participation  of  the  wife  and  waiter  in  the  pheno- 
mena, these  two  persons  being  the  only  ones  on  whom 
suspicion  rested.  My  suggestion  is,  however,  that  if 
this  participation  did  occur,  it  was  entirely  sub-conscious. 
Further  on  I  shall  give  some  other  reasons  in  support  of 
this  view.     For  the  present,  it  is  sufficient  to   say   that, 

H 


114  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

although  there  are  indications  which  cause  us  to  suspect 
that  the  phenomena  are  not  really  supernormal,  we  must 
logically  exclude  all  thoughts  of  ordinary  trickery. 

Having  expressed  these  doubts  on  Raynero's  con- 
clusions, I  will  now  discuss  the  facts  which  led  Ra3^nero 
to  such  a  conclusion. 

Any  one  who  carefully  reads  the  description  of  the 
telekinetic  phenomena,  which  consisted  in  the  throwing  of 
the  shoes,  with  the  plan  of  the  place  before  him,  cannot 
fail  to  observe  that  the  explanation  given  by  Raynero  is 
insufficient  to  prove  that  there  was  not  fraud  on  the  part 
of  the  waiter. 

Urged  by  a  doubt  of  this  character  after  Raynero  had 
signed  his  declaration,  I  proposed  to  go  Avith  him  to  the 
place  in  order  to  thoroughly  clear  up  certain  points.  This 
was  done  immediately.  We  shall  now  see  with  what 
caution  such  evidence  ought  to  be  received. 

I  therefore  ascertained — and  Raynero  also  agreed — that 
in  the  place  Avhere  he  was  seated  (A)  at  the  moment  when 
the  shoes  fell,  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  see 
if  the  waiter,  engaged  in  his  work  in  the  other  room  (B), 
had  disappeared  for  a  moment  to  throw  the  articles,  which, 
with  unconscious  premeditation,  he  must  previousl}^  have 
taken  from  their  usual  place.  Even  from  the  point  in  ques- 
tion Raynero  could  not  completely  see  the  waiter,  and  no 
one  thought  of  putting  him  under  surveillance  ;  moreover, 
after  the  event  took  place  there  was  no  suggestion  that 
it  might  be  due  to  fraud,  so  that  it  could  not  even  be 
ascertained  if,  immediately  after  the  phenomenon  occurred, 
the  waiter  was  calmly  engaged  in  his  work  or  not. 

In  these  circumstances  my  opinion  is  that  we  can  no 
longer  speak  of  certifying  such  a  phenomenon. 

When  I  had  put  these  observations  to  him,  Raynero 
began  to  hesitate,  then  to  doubt  if  the  phenomenon  had 
really  occurred,  as  I  had  done  myself.  But,  after  having 
considered  a  little,  he  reverted  to  his  first  opinion,  and 
observed  that  he  had  seen  the  shoes  when  they  were  still 
in  the  air,  and  that,  according  to  the  course  they  took,  it 
could  be  inferred  that  they  had  been  thrown  from  a  point 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  115 

near  the  top  of  the  staircase.  It  consequently  seemed  to 
him  that  the  waiter  could  not  have  accomplished  this  feat 
without  being  seen  and  without  making  some  noise,  because, 
owing  to  his  small  stature,  he  would  have  had  to  go  nearly 
up  to  the  middle  of  the  staircase.  I  am  willing  to  accept 
this  correction  by  Raynero,  although  it  is  difficult,  even 
admitting  that  such  details  remained  impressed  on  the 
memory,  to  get  rid  of  doubts  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
observation,  seeing  that  at  the  time  no  one  expected  any 
such  phenomenon. 

I  think  I  should  also  add,  as  a  scrupulous  narrator,  a 
detail  as  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the  phenomenon 
was  produced.  At  my  request  Raynero  told  me  again  that 
the  window  of  the  garret  (above  the  kitchen,  C)  was  then 
open.  It  seemed  to  me  hardly  probable,  if  not  impossible, 
that  some  one  could  hide  in  the  garret  and  then  get  away 
through  the  window.  I  found  it  to  be  equally  unthinkable 
that  the  shoes  were  thrown  from  the  court  through  the 
window  in  such  a  way  as  to  pass  through  the  garret  and 
fall  at  Raynero's  feet.  We  can  therefore,  without  much 
fear  of  being  mistaken,  set  aside  these  hypotheses. 

Having  examined  the  circumstances,  we  have  to  pro- 
nounce and  decide  whether  the  phenomenon  in  question 
is  to  be  attributed  to  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  waiter,  or  if 
it  must  be  considered  as  a  true  supernormal  phenomenon. 

I  consider  that,  owing  to  the  conditions  of  the  pheno- 
menon being  imperfectly  verified,  although  there  exists 
a  certain  probability  that  they  were  produced  by  super- 
normal means,  it  is  best  to  abstain  from  a  definite 
judgment. 

After  all  this  discussion,  and  after  so  prolonged  an 
examination,  some  may  ask  themselves  why,  if  the  pheno- 
menon appears  to  be  doubtful  and  due  to  fraud,  I  have 
made  so  specious  an  argument,  based  on  a  sub-conscious 
fraud  of  the  waiter,  instead  of  on  a  real  and  conscious 
deception. 

These  questions  demand  a  few  words  in  reply.  In  the 
first  place,  I  have  tried  to  show  why  one  could  not  accept 
entirely  the  evidence  of  an  individual  who,  among  several 


116  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

whom  I  questioned,  might,  it  seemed  to  me,  inspire  con- 
fidence by  the  exact  manner  in  which  he  reported  the 
facts ;  then  to  make  the  readers  understand  that  these 
facts  ought  to  be  rigorously  attested  in  order  to  be  taken 
into  consideration. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  is  necessary  to  be  cautious, 
seeing  that,  in  this  matter,  we  are  still  generally  too 
ignorant  to  be  able  to  pass  over  in  silence  certain  details 
which  seem  a  'priori  to  be  useless. 

It  is  necessary  above  all  to  show  discretion  in  the 
question  of  "sub-conscious"  or  "automatic"  fraud,  to 
which  I  must  return,  because  it  is  denied  or  ignored  by  a 
very  large  number  of  people,  but  on  this  I  shall  only 
enlarge  as  far  as  is  necessary  to  justify  what  I  have  said 
above. 

May  I  then  be  permitted'  to  call  to  mind  that  at  the 
time  of  the  experiments,  now  historical,  made  at  Milan, 
through  Eusapia  Faladino — experiments  in  which  a 
number  of  persons,  well  known  throughout  the  whole  of 
Europe,  took  part,  and  which  marked  a  milestone  in  the 
progress  of  these  ideas  in  the  orthodox  camp — an  in- 
dividual (now  dead)  claimed  to  reveal  how  Eusapia 
Paladino  produced  these  phenomena. 

The  publicity  given  to  this  discovery  caused  many 
persons  to  confuse  together  the  phenomena  which  could 
not  in  any  way  be  attributed  to  fraud,  with  others, 
with  regard  to  which  this  accusation  could  be  brought, 
and  to  go  so  far  as  to  charge  with  the  greatest  stupidity 
ten  or  twelve  persons  who,  fortunately,  were  not  mere 
nobodies. 

Later  on,  in  fact,  it  was  discovered  what  constituted 
Eusapia  Paladino's  frauds  and  their  "  automatic  "  or  "  sub- 
conscious "  nature.  LTp  to  the  present  time,  it  should  be 
said  that  such  "  sub-conscious  "  frauds  have  been  but  little 
studied  in  mediums,  because  those  who  have  been  in- 
terested in  these  mediumistic  phenomena  either  accept 
everything,  or  attribute  everything  to  common  fraud, 
whereas  this  latter  is  much  rarer  than  we  suppose  in  our 
excessive  pride,  which  causes  a  person  of  ordinary  cunning 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  117 

to  fancy  himself  shrewder  than  every  one  else.  For  my 
part  I  declare,  from  my  own  experience,  that  I  consider 
that  "sub-conscious  simulation,"  both  in  physical  pheno- 
mena and  in  the  so-called  communications  from  beyond 
the  tomb,  is  very  frequently,  if  not  always,  bound  up 
with  authentic  phenomena. 

I  should  then  have  considered  it  quite  natural,  and 
in  the  order  of  things,  if  along  with  the  authentic  pheno- 
mena of  the  Via  Bava  there  had  been  observed  "  un- 
conscious automatisms  "  of  which  I  speak ;  and,  for  more 
than  one  reason,  I  even  incline  to  the  belief  that  such  was 
the  case. 

As  to  the  evidence  of  the  Accountant,  M.  Merini,  I 
state  at  once  that  there  is  little  to  say :  the  fact  which 
he  relates  is  expressed  with  such  precision  of  detail  that 
there  is  almost  nothing  to  object  to  it.  Further,  in  con- 
versing with  him,  I  am  convinced  that  his  mind  is  well 
balanced,  his  judgment  calm  and  sure,  his  conviction  firm 
and  complete.  Not  only  has  he  never  manifested  any 
repugnance  to  the  publication  of  his  name ;  but  he  even 
wishes  that  I  should  say  here  that  he  is  ready  to  repeat 
to  any  one  who  desires  to  hear  it  what  he  has  related 
to  me. 

This  last  feature  sufficiently  characterises  the  indi- 
vidual. 

Finally,  I  have  no  need  to  comment  on  the  declara- 
tion of  Professor  Lombroso,  because  no  one  would  refuse 
to  credit  his  statements. 

Notes  and  Conclusions 

I  hope  it  has  been  made  clear  to  the  reader  who  has 
impartially  followed  us  up  to  this  point  that  supernormal 
phenomena  really  took  place  in  the  Via  Bava. 

Some  one,  however,  will  say:  "Who  was  the  medium 
that  produced  all  these  extraordinary  things  ? "  And, 
in  fact,  it  is  admitted  that  these  phenomena  are  always 
due  to  the  presence  of  certain  persons  gifted  with  special 
aptitudes. 


118  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

But  I  do  not  know  how  to  reply  to  such  an  apparently 
simple  question.  Was  it  the  waiter  that  was  the  medium  ? 
Or  the  wife  ?  Or  both  ?  Several  seances  have,  however, 
been  held  in  the  same  cellar  in  the  Via  Bava,  with  the 
same  persons,  without  obtaining  any  result  to  be  compared 
with  the  other  phenomena. 

I  should  be  inclined  to  believe  that  there  was  a 
mediumistic  contagion.    I  could  not,  however,  affirm  this. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  why  did  these  phenomena  break 
out  suddenly,  and  why  did  they  disappear  in  the  same 
manner?  We  have  not  been  able  to  find  out  the  real 
reason. 

I  believe,  however,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Avife  and  the  waiter,  although  both  mediums,  did  not 
produce  anything  outside  of  a  determined  sphere.  Per- 
haps they  were  special  mediums,  "occasional  mediums," 
so  to  speak,  of  whom  we  find  numerous  examples.  And 
thus  it  was  that  at  the  end  of  November  the  phenomena 
ceased  altogether,  and  were  no  longer  produced,  even  in 
the  new  place  to  which  the  waiter  went  after  leaving  the 
Bottigheria  Cinzano. 

It  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader,  I  hope,  if  I 
add  a  few  words  about  the  Fumeros  and  their  waiter. 

Bartolomeo  Fumero  is  a  man  of  about  fifty  years  of 
age.  He  is  square-shouldered,  and  has  the  red  face 
usually  found  in  drinkers.  He  is  of  an  impulsive  nature, 
falling  easily  into  exaggeration  when  talking.  (Thus, 
doubtless,  he  exaggerated  the  damage  he  had  suffered.) 
In  other  respects  his  neighbours  regarded  him  as  a 
very  honest  man,  incapable  of  injuring  any  one. 

His  wife,  when  I  saw  her  for  the  first  time  (on  the 
occasion  of  the  phenomena),  seemed  to  be  ill.  Now 
she  is  well,  but  she  is  still  pale  and  delicate.  She  was 
not  willing  to  admit  to  me  that  she  had  ever  been  sub- 
ject to  any  hallucinations  whatever.  Professor  Lombroso, 
on  the  contrary,  in  his  statement,  makes  an  allusion  to 
these  hallucinations.  She  is  clever,  knows  how  to  write 
and  keep  accounts.  She  underwent  an  operation  for 
hystero-ovariotomy  a  year  ago. 


HAUNTED   HOUSES  119 

The  waiter  is  not  of  full  height,  and  is  of  moderate 
intelligence.  There  is  apparently  nothing  else  to  remark 
concerning  him.  With  regard  to  fraud,  I  recall  an  obser- 
vation made  by  a  workman  who  was  one  day  present  at 
a  spontaneous  breaking  of  bottles.  He  saw,  or  thought 
he  saw,  that  this  breaking  of  bottles  was  always  preceded 
by  a  sudden  movement  of  the  waiter.  The  workman 
explained  that  by  saying  that  the  waiter  threw  out  the 
force.  We  record  the  observation ;  even  such  a  pheno- 
menon is  not  new,  since  it  has  already  been  observed  with 
other  mediums — for  instance,  with  the  very  well-known 
Neapolitan  medium,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken 
with  regard  to  sub-conscious  fraud.  I  shall  return  to 
this  question  of  ajiparent  fraud  in  connection  with  the 
observations  made  with  other  mediums. 

Let  us,  then,  sum  up.  Via  Bava  was  the  scene  of 
perfectly  authentic  phenomena  of  a  supernormal  char- 
acter; also  of  less  well-defined  phenomena,  obscurely 
connected  with  the  first. 

We  have,  in  fact,  spoken  of  hallucinations,  of  sub- 
conscious frauds,  and  even — as  if  this  were  not  sujfficient 
to  complicate  all  verification  of  the  facts — of  a  case  of 
undoubted  appearance  of  fraud  in  the  automatic  move- 
ments of  the  waiter  preceding  some  of  the  phenomena. 

We  can  easily  understand  why  such  uncertainty  is 
prejudicial  to  the  effect  which  these  phenomena  ought 
to  produce  on  public  opinion.  Only,  if  the  question  is 
so  far  from  clear,  this  is  due  mainly  to  the  indifference 
with  which  the  majority  of  scientific  men  regard  this 
class  of  studies.  As  to  the  majority  of  the  public,  they 
take  advantage  of  these  uncertainties  to  create  confusion 
and  to  throw  doubt  even  upon  what  is  now  absf)lutely 
proved;  that  is  to  say,  that  in  Spiritism,  Mediumship, 
Occultism — call  it  what  you  will — there  exist  facts  op- 
posed to  the  general  idea  which  we  have  formed  as  to 
the  laws  governing  the  physical  world. 


CHAPTER   IX 

TELEPATHY 

Telepathic  warnincrs  without  Hallucinations  or  Visions — Telepathic 
warnings  with  Hallucination — Telepathic  warnings  with  Vision 

We  shall  define  telepathy  as  the  knowledge  which  a  subject 
(called  the  percipient)  receives  of  a  fact  concerning  another 
subject,  whom  we  call  the  agent,  and  winch  takes  place  at 
a  distance,  outside  the  range  of  the  normal  senses,  and 
without  this  fact  being  able  to  come  to  his  knowledge  by 
the  normal  operation  of  his  senses  or  by  any  known  means. 

It  seems,  however,  that,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the 
phenomenon  of  telepathy  is  due  to  the  operation  of  the 
faculty  of  lucidity  possessed  by  the  percipient,  and  that, 
consequently,  we  may  connect  telepathy  with  the  more 
common  phenomenon  of  lucidity,  of  which  it  only  forms  a 
special  case. 

However,  there  are  some  instances  which  are  classed 
in  the  category  of  telepathic  facts,  in  which  there  seems 
to  be  something  intervening  which  is  foreign  to  the 
phenomenon  of  lucidity. 

First,  there  are  cases  in  which  a  hallucination  without 
vision,  occurring  to  one  or  several  percipients,  coincides  with 
a  fact  which  interests  them  and  has  taken  place  at  a  dis- 
tance from  them,  but  does  not  communicate  to  them  the 
knowledge  of  this  fact.  It  is  true  that,  in  these  cases,  we 
can  say  that  the  percipient  has  a  vague,  general  perception 
of  an  accident,  and  these  cases  may  be  considered  as  a 
phenomenon  of  rudimentary  lucidity  not  fully  developed. 

But  there  are,  besides,  cases  in  which  a  telepathic  vision 
leaves  undeniable  objective  traces  of  such  a  character 
that  we  can  no  longer  class  this  vision  in  the  category 
of  hallucinatory  visions. 


TELEPATHY  121 

These  cases  are  only  a  combination  of  several  psychical 
phenomena,  and  wc  know  with  what  facility  and  frequency 
these  various  phenomena  are  mixed  together  and  super- 
posed one  on  another.  We  may,  therefore,  here  consider 
that  a  new  phenomenon  has  to  be  added  to  that  of 
lucidity. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  scientific  classification  of  the  pheno- 
mena of  telepathy  we  have  to  consider  on  the  one  hand 
the  transmitting  agent ;  and  on  the  other,  the  percipient. 

With  regard  to  the  agent,  we  find  that  in  the  majority 
of  cases  it  is  at  the  moment  of  the  approach  of  death  that 
the  telepathic  communication  is  made.  In  cases  where 
the  agent  is  living,  most  frequently  he  is  the  victim  of 
an  accident,  suffering  from  intense  emotion  and  con- 
siderable anguish.  Also  there  are  some  very  rare  instances 
in  which  the  agent  has  himself  a  knowledge  of  the  tele- 
pathic vision  which  he  produces.  Finally,  in  some  of 
these  last-named  cases,  not  only  is  the  agent  conscious 
of  the  vision  produced,  but  it  is  voluntary  and  produced 
by  an  effort  which  he  himself  makes  to  appear  to  the 
percipient.  With  regard  to  the  percipient,  we  have  first 
of  all  to  consider  whether  he  is  in  the  waking  or  in  the 
sleeping  state  at  the  moment  when  he  receives  the 
telepathic  communication. 

In  the  second  place,  we  have  to  consider  the  manner 
in  which  he  receives  this  communication.  In  the  waking 
state  we  find  simple  premonitions,  without  hallucination 
or  vision,  and,  in  one  case,  premonition  manifested  through 
automatic  writing. 

In  other  cases  we  find  telepathic  communications,  with 
hallucination  without  vision,  in  which  the  hallucinations 
may  extend  to  several  persons,  but  the  communication 
has  a  vague  and  incomplete  character.  Finally,  Ave  shall 
find,  on  the  part  of  the  percipient  telepathic  communica- 
tions with  vision,  this  vision  either  consisting  in  the 
simple  appearance  of  the  picture  of  the  agent ;  or  pre- 
senting more  complex  character,  and  making  known  to 
the  percipient  some  very  circumstantial  details  as  to  the 
fact  or  the  accident  that  has  befallen  the  agent.     These 


122  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

visions  sometimes  present  themselves  with  the  very 
peculiar  characteristic  of  being  seen  by  other  persons  at 
the  same  time  as  the  recipient  to  whom  they  are  sent. 

Here  is  a  case  in  which  we  find,  in  the  waking  state,  a 
premonition  of  the  danger  incurred  by  some  young  men 
in  an  accident.  This  premonition  occurred,  as  we  shall 
see,  without  vision  and  without  hallucination.  The  com- 
munication otherwise  is  vague,  and,  while  certainly 
making  known  that  a  danger  had  been  run,  it  did  not 
designate  its  character.  One  particular  point  to  note  in 
this  case  is  that  the  communication  came,  not  to  the 
person  most  nearly  related  to  the  subject  who  had  encoun- 
tered the  danger,  but  to  a  stranger  who  served  as  inter- 
mediary to  communicate  it  to  the  person  concerned. 

This  account  is  taken  from  the  Annales  des  Sciences 
Psychiques : — 

"On  April  30,  1889,"  says  Madame  X.,  "  I  was  present 
at  Benediction  at  the  Convent  of  the  Soeurs  de  la  Sagesse 
on  the  occasion  of  the  feast  of  the  Blessed  Father  de 
Montfort.  At  the  moment  of  Benediction  the  good 
mother,  whose  praying  -  stool  was  separated  from  my 
chair  by  a  grating,  turned  abruptly  towards  me  (she  had 
to  turn  three  quarters  round)  and  said  to  me  :  *  Madame, 
I  am  going  to  pray  to  our  good  father  (the  Blessed  de 
Montfort)  for  your  young  people,  that  he  will  protect 
them ;  he  loves  all  young  people ;  you  pray  also  for 
them.'  This  seemed  to  me  very  strange,  because  it  was 
at  the  moment  of  Benediction  when  every  one  was  wrapped 
in  contemplation,  and  the  good  sisters  generally  were  as 
still  as  statues.  Sister  Saint  A.  had  never  seemed  to 
take  any  interest  in  my  children,  whom  she  scarcely  knew, 
and  her  manner  and  attitude  were  generally  so  reserved, 
so  calm,  and  the  expression  on  her  face  at  this  moment 
was  so  singular  that  all  present  were  strongly  inclined  to 
laugh,  and  it  was  passed  from  chair  to  chair  that  the 
good  mother  was  going  mad.  They  did  not  remember 
ever  having  seen  her  turn  away  from  her  prayers  to  address 
such  words  to  her  neighbours. 


TELEPATHY  123 

"  After  the  ceremony  I  returned  home,  and  there  I 
was  told  that  my  two  sons  had  nearly  been  run  over  in 
a  carriage  accident,  and  that  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
before.  Both  of  them  had  been  violently  thrown  out  ot 
a  gig,  and  under  a  cart.  The  horse  stopped  short  just 
at  the  moment  when  the  wheel  was  about  to  pass  over 
one  of  them.  The  younger  had  a  broken  arm,  the  elder 
only  sustained  some  bruises." 

The  same  evening  Madame  X.  told  her  husband  the 
good  mother's  presentiment ;  he  remembers  the  fact  and 
confirms  it. 

Here  I  leave  Madame  X.,  senior,  to  tell  the  story ;  she 
was  a  woman  of  very  clear  mind,  but,  like  her  daughter, 
very  credulous  as  to  interventions  from  beyond  the  tomb. 

" '  On  the  evening  of  the  accident,  as  we  wished  to 
make  our  acknowledgments  to  Father  de  Montfort,  I  went 
to  the  convent  to  have  some  candles  burnt  in  the  chapel. 
I  found  the  nuns  all  '  in  the  air '  (sic),  and  the  good 
mother  in  tears.  They  had  learned  of  the  event,  and 
were  in  the  choir  blessing  the  name  of  the  saint.  The 
good  mother  came  to  me  and  said :  '  During  Benedic- 
tion, I  felt  a  blow  at  the  heart  (sic) ;  I  thought  of  your 
children,  and  looked  for  their  mother  to  tell  her  to  pray 
for  them.' 

"It  is  certain  that  the  good  mother  turned  towards 
Madame  X.  at  the  moment  of  Benediction  to  exhort  her  to 
recommend  her  children  to  the  care  of  Father  de  Mont- 
fort, which  appeared  somewhat  extraordinary,  and  it  was 
not  a  habit  of  the  elderly  nun,  as  many  persons  remarked 
and  still  remember.  It  is  certain  that  at  the  same  hour, 
and  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  say,  within  the  same  quarter 
of  an  hour,  Madame  X.'s  children  were  in  great  danger." 

Extract  from  a  letter  froon  Madame  X.  to  Dr.  Emery 

"  JONZAC,  January  9,  1891. 

"  The  account  of  the  accident  has  been  often  told  to 
me,  and  quite  recently  again  during  the  New  Year  holi- 
days by  the  three  actors,  my  two  sons  J.  and  R.,  and  my 


124  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

nephew  E. ;  they  were  then  aged  respectively  eighteen, 
fourteen,  and  seventeen  years.  They  Avere  therefore  per- 
fectly able  to  understand  the  gravity  of  the  occurrence, 
and  no  one  was  in  a  better  position  to  tell  the  story. 

"  On  April  29,  1889,  they  all  three  set  out  for  a  ride  in 
a  gig.  On  their  returning  to  the  town,  their  light  carriage, 
carelessly  driven,  collided  with  a  large  cart  filled  with 
stone  which  was  going  in  the  same  direction  as  they  were. 
They  were  violently  thrown  out.  J.  and  E.  suffered  from 
contusions  and  bruises ;  R.  found  himself  lying  under  the 
wheel  of  the  cart ;  he  did  not  faint,  and  he  felt  himself 
absolutely  lost.  As  he  has  often  repeated  since,  he  '  had 
death  in  front  of  him.'  His  brother  J.  rushed  to  the 
wheel  and  tried  to  stop  it  with  his  hands. 

"  Was  it  his  effort,  although  too  feeble,  or  was  it  simply 
the  movement  of  the  driver,  on  hearing  the  noise  ?  The 
wheel  stopped  just  after  breaking  R.'s  arm.  Another 
step  of  the  horse,  or  a  further  movement  due  to  the 
impetus  gained,  and  I  should  never  have  seen  my  son 
again.  All  the  witnesses  of  this  scene,  and  they  were 
numerous,  because  people  were  commg  from  the  five 
o'clock  train,  thought  that  he  was  completely  crushed ; 
some  regarded  it  as  a  miracle,  others  as  extraordinary, 
that  greater  damage  had  not  been  done. 

"During  this  time  I  was  at  the  well-known  service 
in  the  chapel  of  the  sisters  of  La  Sagesse.  My  place  was 
against  the  railing,  almost  behind  that  of  the  Superior, 
Madame  H.  But  at  the  moment  of  Benediction  the  good 
mother  rose,  turned  round,  and  looking  at  me  said: 
'  Madame  X.,  I  am  going  to  pray  to  our  good  Father  for 
your  boys ;  he  will  protect  them,  he  loves  all  young  people, 
you  must  pray  also.'  This  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  strange, 
and  I  must  admit  even  made  me  laugh,  because  the  good 
mother,  with  whom,  it  is  true,  I  am  on  very  good  terms, 
scarcely  knew  my  children ;  they  had  never  been  to  see 
her ;  she  could  scarcely  have  known  that  it  was  their 
holiday  time.  My  mother,  who  was  by  my  side,  was 
also  surprised  and  asked,  '  What  did  the  good  mother 
want  with  you  ? '     I  told  her  that  I  did  not  know  what 


TELEPATHY  125 

had  come  to  hor.  Several  of  the  ladies  present  asked  me 
the  same  question  as  we  left  the  chapel. 

"  After  the  ceremony  I  went  to  make  a  visit,  when 
some  one  came  to  look  for  me  to  tell  me  of  the  accident. 

"As  to  the  coincidence  of  time  there  is  no  doubt 
whatever.  I  have  told  you  that  when  R.  was  under  the 
cart,  people  were  commg  from  the  4.55  train :  he  fell  down 
in  front  of  the  Auberge  Bobrie ;  if  you  calculate,  it 
must  have  been  5.15.  Vespers  commenced  at  4.30 — three 
quarters  of  an  hour  would  be  taken  up  in  chanting  the 
psalms,  anthems,  and  canticles  before  the  Benediction ; 
that  is  the  time  always  taken.  We  were  so  impressed 
that  my  mother  returned  immediately  to  the  convent 
to  ask  them  to  burn  a  candle  in  front  of  the  saint's  statue. 
She  found  the  nuns  in  tears.  They  had  just  been  told  of 
what  had  happened,  and  were  clustering  round  the  good 
mother,  who  said  that  she  had  felt  a  blow  at  her  heart 
and  had  immediately  thought  of  the  young  X.'s.  She  was 
an  elderly,  saintly,  and  very  simple  woman. 

The  following  case  comes  from  Dr.  Liebeault. 

Here  again  there  was  neither  hallucination  nor  vision ; 
the  communication  was  made  by  means  of  automatic 
writing. 

"  This  incident  happened  in  a  French  family  from  New 
Orleans,  who  had  been  living  for  some  time  at  Nancy 
in  order  to  settle  up  a  business  matter.  I  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  this  family,  because  the  head  of  it,  M.  G., 
had  brought  his  niece.  Mile.  B.,  to  me  that  I  might  treat 
her  by  hypnotism.  She  had  become  slightly  anasmic 
and  was  suffering  from  extreme  nervousness,  which  she 
had  contracted  at  Coblenz,  in  a  school  where  she  had  been 
teacher.  I  was  easily  able  to  put  her  into  a  somnambu- 
listic condition,  and  she  was  cured  in  two  sittings.  Since 
the  production  of  this  state  of  sleep  had  demonstrated  to 
the  family  and  to  Mile.  B.  that  she  could  easily  become 
a  medium  (Mme.  G.  was  a  spiritist  medium),  this  young 
lady  practised  the  invocation  of  spirits,  in  which  she 
sincerely  believed,  by  the  assistance  of  the  pen,  and  at 


126  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  end  of  two  months  she  became  a  remarkable  writing 
medium. 

"  I  have  seen  her  with  my  own  eyes  rapidly  write  several 
pages  of  what  she  called  messages,  in  well-chosen  terms, 
without  erasure,  and  at  the  same  time  engage  in  con- 
versation w^ith  persons  around  her.  The  curious  thing 
was  that  she  never  had  any  knowledge  of  what  she  was 
writing.  'Therefore,'  she  said,  'it  can  only  be  a  spirit 
that  directs  my  hand ;  it  is  not  I.' 

"  One  day,  I  think  it  was  February  7,  1868,  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  table  was  being 
laid  for  breakfast,  she  felt  a  desire,  something  that  im- 
pelled her  to  write  (that  is  what  she  called  a  trance),  and 
she  immediately  ran  to  her  large  note-book,  in  which 
she  traced  in  a  feverish  manner,  with  the  pencil,  some 
indecipherable  characters.  She  again  drew  the  same 
characters  on  the  following  pages,  and  when  at  last 
the  excitement  of  her  mind  cooled  down,  it  could  be  read 
that  a  person,  named  Margaret,  had  announced  her  death. 

"  It  was  immediately  supposed  that  a  young  lady  of  this 
name,  who  was  her  friend,  and  had  been  a  teacher  in  the 
same  school  at  Coblenz,  had  died.  All  the  family,  in- 
cluding Mile.  B.,  immediately  came  to  me,  and  we  decided 
to  find  out  the  same  day  if  the  death  had  really  taken 
place.  Mile.  B.  wrote  to  a  young  English  lady,  one  of 
her  friends,  who  was  also  a  teacher  at  the  boarding-school 
in  question,  making  some  excuse,  as  she  did  not  wish 
to  make  the  real  motive  known.  By  return  of  post 
we  received  a  reply  in  English,  from  which  they  copied 
for  me  the  essential  part,  which  I  found  in  my  writing- 
case  about  a  fortnight  ago.  It  expressed  the  astonishment 
of  this  young  English  lady  at  receiving  Mile.  B.'s  letter, 
which  she  had  not  expected  so  soon,  seeing  that  the 
special  reason  for  writing  was  not  apparent.  But,  at  the 
same  time,  the  English  friend  hastened  to  announce  to 
our  medium  that  their  common  friend  Margaret  had 
died  on  February  7th,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Moreover,  a  small  square  piece  of  paper  was  inserted 
in  the  letter;  it  was  a  notification  of  the  death.     It  is 


TELEPATHY  127 

needless  to  tell  you  that  I  verified  the  envelope  containing 
the  letter,  and  that  it  appeared  to  me  to  have  really 
come  from  Coblenz.  Only  I  have  since  regretted  that 
I  did  not,  in  the  interests  of  science,  ask  the  family  to 
go  with  me  to  the  telegraph  office  to  make  sure  that 
they  had  not  received  a  telegram  during  the  morning  of 
February  7th.  Science  ought  not  to  have  any  bashfulness ; 
truth  has  no  fear  of  being  seen.  I  have  only  a  moral  proof 
of  the  truth  of  the  fact,  that  is,  the  honour  of  the  family 
G.,  which  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  above  suspicion." 

The  two  following  cases  are  of  hallucination  without 
vision.  They  are  quoted  by  M.  Flammarion  in  his  work 
and  are  supplied  by  General  Parmentier,  who  states  that 
the  two  facts  occurred  in  his  family. 

"  Several  persons  had  met  for  a  luncheon  party  given 
at  Andlau  in  Alsace.  After  waiting  awhile  for  the  master 
of  the  house,  who  had  gone  out  hunting,  they  sat  down 
to  the  table  without  him,  his  wife  saying  it  could  not 
be  long  before  he  came  in.  They  began  breakfast  very 
merrily,  expecting  every  minute  to  see  the  over-zealous 
votary  of  St.  Hubert  appear.  But  time  went  on.  Every 
one  was  astonished  at  the  length  of  the  delay,  when 
suddenly,  though  the  day  was  calm  and  the  heavens  blue, 
the  window  of  the  dining-room,  which  was  wide  open,  was 
shut  violently  with  a  great  noise,  and  opened  wide  again 
immediately.  The  guests  were  astonished  that  this  could 
have  happened  without  overturning  a  decanter  of  water 
which  was  standing  on  a  table  close  to  the  window, 
and  that  the  decanter  remained  undisturbed.  Those 
who  had  seen  it  and  heard  the  noise  could  not  understand 
anything  of  what  had  occurred.  '  Some  misfortune  has 
just  happened ! '  cried  the  lady  of  the  house,  rising  from 
the  table  in  affright.  The  luncheon  came  to  an  end. 
Three-quarters  of  an  hour  later  the  dead  body  of  the 
sportsman  was  brought  in  on  a  stretcher.  He  had  re- 
received  a  charge  of  shot  full  in  his  heart.  He  died 
immediately,  having  only  time  to  exclaim :  '  My  wife  1 
my  poor  children  ! ' " 


128  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

In  this  case,  we  are  justified  in  placing  in  the  category 
of  halhicinations  the  phenomenon  perceived  by  the  wit- 
nesses. In  point  of  fact,  it  follows  from  their  statement 
that  the  window  could  not  be  closed  without  overturning 
the  decanter,  and  this  remained  unmoved.  It  therefore 
seems  to  have  been  simple  perception  of  a  loud  noise  that 
the  witnesses,  probably  by  auditive  analogy,  had  attributed 
to  the  closing  of  the  window.  The  account  seems  to 
leave  it  to  be  supposed  that  some  of  the  witnesses  had 
also  seen  the  window  closed ;  but  in  addition  to  the  fact 
that  the  visual  phenomenon  is  not  sufficiently  proved,  it 
can  be  completely  explained  by  a  secondary  hallucination, 
caused  by  the  noise  heard  in  the  direction  of  the  window. 

The  fact  of  the  decanter  being  undamaged  cannot  leave 
us  in  doubt  as  to  the  hallucinatory  character  of  the  pheno- 
menon observed,  or,  at  the  very  least,  as  to  the  error  of 
interpretation  of  the  noise  heard. 

A  circumstance  which  also  ought  to  be  noted  is  that 
the  phenomenon  was  perceived  not  only  by  the  subject 
directly  interested,  the  wife  of  the  agent,  probably  in  com- 
munication with  him,  but  also  by  other  persons  present, 
who  seem  to  have  observed  the  phenomenon  in  the  same 
manner. 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  telepathic  phenomenon  in  this 
case  impressed  the  percipient  with  the  idea  that  a  misfor- 
tune was  about  to  happen,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
communicated  clear  perception  of  what  had  really  hap- 
pened. It  is  therefore  only  an  instance  of  incomplete  or 
attenuated  lucidity. 

Wo  place  in  the  same  category  the  following  case, 
which  we  extract  from  the  same  source: — 

"  It  occurred  at  Schlcstadt,  in  the  Department  of  the 
Bas-Rhin,  on  a  warm  summer  night.  The  door  of  com- 
munication between  the  bedroom  and  the  salon  had  been 
left  open,  and  in  the  salon  two  windows  were  kept  wide 
open  by  chairs  whose  backs  touched  them.  The  father 
and  mother  of  M.  Parmentier  were  asleep. 

"  Suddenly  Madame  Parmentier  was  awakened  by 
her  bed  being  sharply  shaken  up  and  down.     She  was 


TELEPATHY  129 

astonished  and  somewhat  alarmed ;  she  woke  her  hus- 
band, and  told  him  what  had  occurred. 

"  Suddenly  a  second  shock  took  place,  this  time  very 
violent.  General  Parmentier's  father  thought  it  was  an 
earthquake,  though  earthquakes  are  very  rare  in  Alsace. 
He  got  up,  lighted  a  candle,  and  seeing  nothing  unusual 
went  to  bed  again.  But  immediately  afterwards  the  bed 
was  again  shaken  violently  and  a  great  noise  was  heard 
in  the  adjoining  salon,  as  though  the  windows  were  vio- 
lently closed  and  all  their  panes  broken.  The  earthquake 
seemed  to  continue  worse  than  ever.  M.  and  Mme.  Par- 
mentier  got  out  of  bed  and  went  to  examine  what  mis- 
chief had  been  done  in  the  salon;  they  found  nothing. 
The  windows  were  still  wide  open ;  the  chairs  had  not 
moved ;  the  night  was  calm  ;  the  sky  clear  and  full  of 
stars.  There  had  been  neither  earthquake  nor  wind- 
storm—  the  noise  and  commotion  had  been  fictitious. 
M.  and  Mme.  Parmentier  lived  on  the  first  floor ;  on  the 
second  floor,  below  them,  lived  an  elderly  woman  whose 
wardrobe  creaked  abominably  every  time  she  opened  or 
shut  the  door.  This  disagreeable  creak  had  been  heard 
among  the  noises,  and  they  had  asked'  each  other  what 
could  induce  the  old  lady  to  be  opening  and  shutting  her 
wardrobe  door  at  that  hour.  When  they  found  that  nothing 
had  been  disturbed  in  the  salon,  that  the  windows  were 
still  open  and  the  furniture  unmoved,  Mme.  Parmentier 
grew  frightened.  She  began  to  think  that  something 
had  happened  to  her  friends,  to  her  father  and  mother, 
whom,  on  her  recent  marriage,  she  had  left  shortly  before 
at  Strasbourg,  and  who  were  all,  as  she  thought,  in  perfect 
health. 

"  But  she  soon  afterwards  heard  that  her  old  governess, 
whom  she  had  not  seen  since  her  marriage,  and  who  had 
gone  back  to  her  family  in  Vienna,  had  died  that  same 
nio-ht,  and  that  before  she  died  she  had  several  times 
expressed  regret  that  she  had  been  separated  from  her 
dear  pupil,  for  whom  she  had  a  warm  attachment. 

"  When  next  day  Mme.  Parmentier  asked  her  neigh- 
bour on  the  ground  floor  if  she  had  opened  her  creaking 


130  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

cupboard  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  if  she  had  been 
shaken  in  her  bed,  and  if  she  had  heard  unusual  noises 
the  answer  was  '  No,'  and  she  added  that,  being  an  old 
woman,  she  was  a  poor  sleeper,  and  if  anything  unusual 
had  occurred  she  would  certainly  have  noticed  it." 

Here  are  two  cases  which  resemble  each  other  suffi- 
ciently, while  differing  from  other  telepathic  phenomena, 
for  us  to  place  them  in  a  category  by  themselves. 

Let  us  then  examine  them,  and  try  to  explain  them  the 
one  by  the  other. 

First  of  all,  we  notice  that  the  noise  heard  did  not 
proceed  from  the  cause  to  which  the  percipients  at  first 
attributed  it — that  is  to  say,  "the  abrupt  closing  of  the 
windows.  We  have  the  proof  of  this — in  the  first  instance, 
by  the  decanter  which  remained  intact ;  in  the  second  in- 
stance, by  the  chairs  which  were  placed  in  front  of  the 
window,  and  which  were  found  in  their  places  after  the 
phenomenon. 

But  this  evidence  is  not  sufficient  for  us  to  demon- 
strate that  the  phenomenon  was  purely  hallucinatory.  Li 
pomt  of  fact,  a  real  noise  might  very  well  have  been  pro- 
duced outside,  have  been  heard  through  the  open  windows, 
and  by  reason  of  the  similarity  of  sound  and  direction 
have  been  attributed  to  the  closing  of  these  windows. 

We  might  be  able  to  admit  this  hypothesis  in  the  first 
instance,  where  the  noise  was  heard  by  every  one  present 
in  the  dining-room.  But,  in  the  second  case,  the  hypo- 
thesis is  inadmissible,  because  the  noise  was  loud  enough 
to  have  wakened  an  aged  person,  only  sleeping  lightly  in 
a  room  immediately  underneath.  Further,  it  may  be 
pointed  out  that  in  the  second  case  the  creaking  of  a  cup- 
board was  heard,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  door 
had  not  been  opened. 

Wo  are  therefore  led  to  recognise  the  purely  subjective 
character  of  these  two  phenomena. 

We  shall  call  this  category  that  of  telepathic  communi- 
cations with  hallucination  but  without  vision. 

One  further  observation  must  be  made  as  to  these  two 


TELEPATHY  131 

cases;  it  is  that  the  hallucination,  although  collective, 
only  becomes  a  telepathic  warning  for  the  percipient  for 
whom  the  communication  was  intended.  In  the  first  case, 
it  was  only  the  wife  of  the  huntsman  who  had  the  per- 
ception of  the  accident  that  had  happened  to  her  husband, 
and  she  expressed  it  by  crying  out,  "  Some  misfortune  has 
just  happened  !"  In  the  second  case,  M.  Parmentier  attri- 
buted what  he  saw  and  heard  to  an  earthquake,  when  Mme. 
Parmentier  believed  that  some  misfortune  had  happened 
to  her  people.  She  was  mistaken  in  her  interpretation  with 
regard  to  the  person  to  whom  she  attributed  it,  but  it  was 
really  she  who  was  in  the  thoughts  of  her  dying  governess. 
The  warning  is  therefore  vague  and  the  communica- 
tion incomplete. 

We  now  come  to  some  cases  in  which  the  telepathic 
warning  is  more  definite.  The  percipient  has  no  longer 
the  vague  perception  of  an  accident  or  of  the  death  of  a 
person  whom  he  cannot  designate,  but  the  fact  is  rendered 
more  precise  by  the  appearance  of  the  person  who  has 
died. 

In  the  first  case,  it  is  true  we  have  not  the  certain 
indication  that  there  was  a  vision,  but  the  whole  of  the 
story  enables  us  to  conclude  that  it  was  by  means  of  a 
dream  that  Mme.  X.  learned  of  the  death  of  her  father. 

The  story  has  been  published  in  the  Annales  des 
Sciences  Psychiques. 

"In  the  month  of  November  1870,  I  was  at  Madrid 
with  my  family — that  is  to  say,  my  father,  mother,  brother, 
and  sister.  My  brother  was  three  years  old,  my  sister 
eight,  while  I  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  We  three  chil- 
dren slept  in  a  bedroom  adjoining  our  parents'  bedroom, 
and  separated  from  it  by  a  glass  door  left  half  open. 

"  At  two  o'clock  m  the  morning  my  mother  woke  up 
with  a  start  and  crying.  She  rose  and  came  to  our  room 
and  awakened  us  all  saying :  '  Pray  for  your  grandfather 
(my  father)  who  has  died  ! '  Now  at  that  time,  our  grand- 
father was  in  Paris,  which  was  besieged  by  the  German 
Army :  we  only  received  news  once  a  fortnight,  and  that 


132  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

irregularly,  by  balloon  despatches.  My  grandfather  was 
suffering  from  an  internal  complaint.  We  knew  that  he 
was  ill,  but  not  that  his  condition  was  serious.  But  I 
remember  perfectly  that,  without  apparent  motive,  our 
mother  came  to  us  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  awaken 
us.  I  believe  that  it  was  the  only  time  that  such  a  thing 
happened.  My  father  tried  to  tranquillise  my  mother,  who 
Avished  to  put  us  into  mourning  the  next  day.  At  the 
request  of  my  father  she  did  not  do  so ;  nevertheless  she 
made  all  preparations  for  going  into  mourning,  and  told 
everybody :  '  My  father  is  dead.' 

"  About  a  month  afterwards  we  had  the  confirmation  of 
her  dream ;  we  learnt  that  my  grandfather  had  died  rather 
suddenly  during  the  night  which  preceded  the  dream.  I 
am  unfortunately  not  able  to  give  more  details,  because 
I  was  very  young.  My  grandmother,  father,  and  mother 
have  all  died  since  that  time,  and,  besides,  the  papers  were 
burned  during  the  second  siege  of  Paris.  But  I  think 
that  I  can  say  that  my  grandfather's  death  preceded  my 
mother's  dream  by  a  few  hours — and  a  few  hours  only." 

In  the  above  case  the  vision  of  the  image  of  the  agent 
is  very  clearly  described ;  it  was  this  vision  that  made 
known  the  death  to  the  percipient,  but  without  giving 
any  particular  details  of  it. 

In  the  following  case,  the  transmitter  appeared  to  the 
receiver  and  told  him  that  he  had  just  died.  The  receiver 
stated  that  he  had  the  vision  before  waking,  but  since  the 
incident  occurred  during  the  night,  we  cannot  be  quite 
sure  that  it  was  not  a  dream. 

"  On  February  4,  1888,^  M.  Montegout  rose  in  the 
morning  to  make  his  visit  of  inspection  in  the  Colony. 
When  he  returned  at  lunch-time  his  wife  said  to  him  : 
'  La  Mothe-Pradelle  is  dead  ! ' 

"At  first  surprised  at  this  abrupt  news,  his  fears  were 
quickly  removed  when  Mmc.  Montegout  told  him  the 
following  story :  She  had  waked  up  in  the  night,  and,  on 
opening  her  eyes,  she  saw  before  her  La  Mothe-Pradelle, 

'  A7inalcs  dcs  Sciences  Psychiques. 


TELEPATHY  1B3 

who  pressed  her  hand  and  said  to  her :  '  I  have  just  died : 
adieu.' 

"  On  hearing  this  M.  Montegout  chaffed  his  wife  a  good 
deal  and  told  her  that  she  had  dreamed  all  that. 

"  She,  for  her  part,  declared  that  she  was  not  asleep 
when  she  saw  the  apparition. 

"  One  or  two  days  afterwards  I  went  to  dine  with 
M.  Montegout,  who  related  to  his  guests  how  he  had 
chaffed  Mme.  Montegout. 

"But  the  director  of  the  Colony  said  that  he  believed 
in  the  reality  of  the  apparition  and,  consequently,  in  the 
death  of  the  deputy. 

"  The  discussion  was  lively,  and  ended  with  the  bet  of 
a  dinner. 

"  Six  or  eight  weeks  later  there  came  to  the  Colony  a 
number  of  the  Independant  de  Bergerac,  announcing  that 
M.  de  La  Mothe-Pradelle,  Deputy  of  Dordogne,  had  died 
on  the  night  of  February  3rd  or  4th,  1888." 

We  now  come  to  some  cases  in  which  it  happens  that  the 
percipient  has  had,  in  a  waking  state,  a  vision  of  the  agent. 

A  regiment,  not  very  long  since  stationed  at  New 
Orleans,  had  a  temporary  mess-room  erected,  at  one  end 
of  which  was  a  door  for  the  officers  ;  and,  at  the  other,  a 
door  and  a  space  railed  off  for  the  messman.  One  day 
two  of  the  officers  were  playing  at  chess,  or  draughts,  one 
sitting  with  his  face  towards  the  centre  of  the  room,  the 
other  with  his  back  to  it.  "  Bless  me  !  why,  surely  that  is 
your  brother!"  exclaimed  the  former  to  the  latter,  who 
looked  eagerly  round,  his  brother  being  then,  as  he 
believed,  in  England.  By  this  time  the  figure,  having 
passed  the  spot  where  the  officers  were  sitting,  presented 
only  his  back  to  them.  "  No,"  replied  the  second,  "  that 
is  not  my  brother's  regiment ;  that's  the  uniform  of  the 
Rifle  Brigade.  By  heavens  !  it  is  my  brother,  though,"  he 
added,  starting  up  and  eagerly  pursuing  the  stranger,  who 
at  that  moment  turned  his  head  and  looked  at  him,  and 
then,  somehow,  strangely  disappeared  amongst  the  people 
standing  at  the  messman's  end  of  the  room.     Supposing 


134  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

he  had  gone  out  that  way,  the  brother  pursued  him,  but 
he  was  not  to  be  found ;  neither  had  the  messman,  nor 
anybody  there,  observed  him.  The  young  man  died  at 
that  time  in  England,  having  just  exchanged  into  the 
Rifle  Brigade. 

In  the  following  case  also  the  image  of  the  agent 
appears  to  the  percipient,  but  this  picture  has  a  parti- 
cular characteristic  expression,  which  leaves  no  doubt  in 
the  percipient's  mind  as  to  the  reality  of  the  fatal  event. 

"  On  February  21,  1879,"  ^  writes  the  communicator  of 
the  narrative,  "  I  was  invited  to  dinner  with  my  friends 
M.  and  Mme.  B.  On  going  into  the  drawing-room  I 
noticed  the  absence  of  one  of  the  usual  guests,  M.  d'E., 
whom  I  nearly  always  met  at  their  table.  I  remarked 
upon  this  and  Mme.  B.  told  me  that  d'E.,  who  was  in  the 
employ  of  an  important  bank,  was  doubtless  very  busy  at 
that  moment,  because  he  had  not  been  seen  for  two  days. 
Nothing  more  was  said  with  regard  to  d'E.  The  repast 
went  off  very  merrily,  and  Mme.  B.  did  not  show  the 
least  sign  of  preoccupation.  During  dinner  we  planned 
to  spend  the  evening  at  the  theatre. 

"  At  dessert  Mme.  B.  rose  in  order  to  go  and  dress  in 
her  room,  the  door  of  which  leading  into  the  dining-room 
remained  half  open. 

"  B.  and  I  remained  at  the  table  smoking  our  cigars, 
when,  after  a  few  moments,  we  heard  a  terrible  cry. 
Thinking  that  an  accident  had  happened,  we  rushed  into 
the  room  and  found  Mme.  B.  seated  and  apparently  ill. 

"  She  recovered  by  degrees,  and  then  told  us  the  follow- 
ing story  :  '  After  leaving  you,  I  dressed  myself  for  going 
out,  and  was  about  to  tie  my  hat-strings,  when  suddenly  I 
saw  in  this  glass  d'E.  coming  in  at  the  door.  He  had  his 
hat  on,  and  looked  pale  and  sad ;  without  turning  round 
I  said  to  him  :  Well,  d'E.,  here  you  arc — sit  down ;  and  as 
he  did  not  reply  I  turned  round  and  could  see  nothing. 
Being  frightened  I  called  out  as  you  heard.'  B.,  in  order 
to  reassure  his  wife,  began  to  chaff  her,  regarding  the 
apparition  as  a  nervous  hallucination,  and  said  that  d'E. 

*  Annates  dcs  Sciences  Psychiqucs. 


TELEPATHY  135 

would  be  much  flattered  at  learning  liow  much  he  was 
in  her  thoughts ;  then,  as  Mme.  B.  was  still  trembling,  in 
order  to  stop  her  emotion  we  proposed  to  start  out  at 
once,  saying  that  we  should  miss  the  '  curtain-raiser.' 

"  '  I  did  not  think  of  d'E.  for  a  single  moment,'  Mme.  B. 
told  us,  '  since  M.  Fournier  asked  me  the  reason  for  his 
absence.  I  am  not  nervous,  and  I  have  never  had  any 
hallucination.  I  am  sure  there  is  something  extraordi- 
nary about  it,  and  as  for  myself,  I  do  not  wish  to  go  out 
before  having  news  of  d'E.  I  beg  of  you  to  go  to  his 
house  as  the  only  way  to  reassure  me.' 

"  I  advised  B,  to  accede  to  his  wife's  request,  and  Ave 
both  set  out  for  d'E.'s  house,  which  was  only  a  very  short 
distance  away.  As  we  walked  we  joked  a  good  deal  on 
Mme.  B.'s  fears. 

"  On  reaching  the  house  we  asked  the  concierge  if 
d'E.  was  at  home.  '  Yes,  sir,  he  has  not  come  down  to- 
day.' D'E.  lived  in  small  bachelor's  chambers  ;  he  kept 
no  servant.  We  went  up  to  his  room  and  rang  several 
times  without  getting  any  reply.  We  then  rang  louder, 
and  knocked  as  hard  as  we  could,  but  without  better 
success.  B.,  who  was  disturbed  in  spite  of  himself,  said 
to  me :  '  This  is  absurd.  The  concierge  was  mistaken ; 
he  has  gone  out.  Let  us  go  down.'  But  the  concierge 
said  that  he  was  quite  certain  that  d'E.  had  not  gone  out. 

"  Really  frightened,  we  went  upstairs  again  with  him, 
and  again  tried  to  obtain  an  entrance ;  then,  not  hearing 
any  movement  in  the  room,  we  sent  for  a  locksmith.  We 
forced  the  door  and  found  the  dead  body  of  d'E.,  still 
warm,  lying  on  his  bed,  pierced  with  two  revolver  shots. 

"  The  doctor,  whom  we  immediately  fetched,  found 
that  d'E.  had  first  tried  to  commit  suicide  by  swallowing 
a  phial  of  laudanum,  and  finding  that  this  did  not  act  suffi- 
ciently quickly,  he  fired  two  revolver  shots  into  his  heart. 
Although  I  am  not  able  to  state  the  time  exactly,  it  was, 
however,  almost  absolutely  coincident  with  the  so-called 
hallucination  of  Mme.  B.  On  his  mantelpiece  he  had  left 
a  letter  addressed  to  M.  and  Mme.  B.  announcing  his  deter- 
mination, a  letter  showing  particular  affection  for  Mme.  B." 


CHAPTER    X 

.TELEPATHY  (continued) 

Telepathic  Vision  of  a  Scene —  Voluntary  Telepathic 
Apparition 

The  following  are  two  cases  in  which  the  agent  was  not 
dead,  but  had  met  with  an  accident.  The  percipient  was 
in  a  semi-waking  condition,  in  which  he  saw  not  only  the 
image  of  the  agent,  but  also  had  a  vision  of  certain  details 
of  the  accident  that  had  happened  to  him. 

In  the  first  case  ^  the  percipient,  Mrs.  B.,  seems  to  have 
clearly  seen  the  whole  of  the  accident.  She  wrote  with 
regard  to  it : — 

"  May  9,  1883. 

"  This  happened  in  January  last,  on  a  Tuesday.  I  was 
about  to  set  out  on  one  of  my  usual  visits  to  Southampton. 
I  had  received  a  letter  from  a  friend  in  the  morning,  who 
told  me  that  he  was  going  hunting  that  day,  but  that  he 
would  write  to  me  on  the  following  day,  so  that  I  should 
find  his  letter  on  my  return.  When  in  the  train,  being 
tired,  I  put  my  book  down  and  closed  my  eyes,  and 
immediately  the  following  scene  came  before  me :  in 
the  hunting-field  two  horsemen  were  preparing  to  jump 
over  a  low  wall ;  my  friend's  horse  took  the  jump,  was 
not  able  to  clear  the  wall,  and  fell  on  to  his  head,  throwinsf 
his  rider  under  him.  The  whole  scene  vanished.  I  was 
wide  awake  all  the  time.  My  friend  Avas  a  good  horseman, 
and  there  was  no  reason  why  such  an  accident  should 
happen  to  him.  Immediately  on  arriving  at  Southampton 
I  wrote  to  him,  telling  him  simply  that  I  knew  he  had  met 
with  a  fall,  and  that  I  hoped  he  was  not  seriously  injured. 

"  On  my  return  on  Wednesday  very  late  at  night,  not 
finding  the  promised  letter,  I  wrote  him  a  few  lines,  saying 

'  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 
136 


TELEPATHY  137 

that  I  hoped  to  hear  some  news  on  the  following  day 
with  regard  to  his  fall.  On  the  same  evening  that  I  re- 
turned I  told  two  people  what  I  had  seen,  and  I  had  even 
spoken  of  it  to  some  friends  with  whom  I  dined  on  the 
Tuesday  evening  after  my  arrival,  and  they  all  laughed 
at  me.  On  Thursday  morning  I  received  a  letter  from 
my  friend.  He  told  me  that  he  had  had  a  fall  when 
trying  to  jump  over  a  low  stone  wall,  that  the  horse  had 
not  cleared  it  and  had  fallen  on  his  head,  and  that  he 
himself  had  not  been  greatly  injured,  and  had  remounted 
the  horse  a  little  later  on.  When  he  wrote  he  had  not 
then  received  any  of  my  letters,  because  my  letter  of 
Tuesday  would  not  arrive  in  Scotland  until  Thursday 
morning,  and  that  of  Wednesday  not  until  Friday.  When 
he  received  my  letters  he  declared  that  I  must  have  been 
asleep.  Nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever  happened  to  me 
before,  or  has  happened  since.  It  all  seemed  to  me  very 
natural,  and  did  not  alarm  me  in  the  least." 

Mrs.  B.  replied  to  the  questions  I  addressed  to  her 
as  follows: — 

"  My  friend,  who  is  a  stubborn  Scotchman,  refuses  to  say 
a  word  more  on  this  matter.  All  I  know  is  that  there  were 
two  horsemen,  who  were  riding  towards  the  same  place." 

She  said  that  her  vision  took  place  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  and  that  she  learned  from  her  friend 
that  the  accident  took  place  "  after  lunch."  She  did  not 
for  a  moment  think  that  a  disaster  had  happened,  and 
she  was  sure  that  her  friend  was  not  much  hurt.  She 
could  not  say  whether  her  eyes  were  closed  or  open, 
but  she  was  sure  that  she  had  never  had  an  impression 
of  a  similar  character. 

In  this  case  the  proof  of  telepathy  or  of  second-sight — 
the  older  and  better-known  expression — seems  to  have 
been  established  by  the  concurrence  of  events. 

Mrs.  B.,  on  arriving  at  Southampton,  wrote  to  her 
friend  (whom  we  will  call  Mr.  X.),  and  told  him  that 
"  she  knew  he  had  met  with  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and 
that   she   hoped  he   was   not    much   hurt."      The   same 


138  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

evening  she  related  her  vision  to  the  friends  with  whom 
she  dined,  who  all  laughed  at  her. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  on  her  return  very  late  at 
night,  not  finding  the  expected  letter  at  home,  she  wrote 
to  Mr.  X.,  and  told  him  that  she  hoped  to  have  news 
of  his  fall  on  the  following  day ;  further,  she  told  two 
persons  what  she  had  seen.  She  eventually  received 
the  promised  letter  on  Thursday  morning,  which  had 
crossed  her  two  letters,  and  which  described  the  accident 
just  as  she  had  seen  it.  The  production  of  these  letters, 
with  their  respective  envelopes  showing  the  post-mark, 
would  have  established  the  fact  that  Mrs.  B.  could  not 
have  known  that  Mr.  X.  had  had  a  fall,  since  it  was 
materially  impossible  for  her  to  have  been  informed  of 
it,  as  her  vision  took  place  at  a  time  very  near  to  the 
time  of  the  accident :  it  would  have  proved  that  the 
letters  had  really  crossed,  and  that  they  could  not  have 
reached  their  destination  soon  enough  to  influence  either 
Mrs.  B.  or  her  friend. 

In  the  second  case  (mentioned  in  Myers'  Human 
Personality)  the  percipient  did  not  see  the  whole  of  the 
scene  of  the  accident,  but  he  perceived  in  the  vision  from 
the  transmitter  the  exact  particulars  of  the  wound  that 
he  had  received. 

On  the  evening  of  February  10,  1894,  Mr.  Kearne  was 
sitting  in  his  room  expecting  the  return  of  two  friends. 
After  allowing  half-an-hour  beyond  their  usual  time  of 
arrival  he  began  to  get  uneasy,  but  arguing  to  himself 
that  there  was  no  occasion  for  alarm,  he  took  an  interest- 
ing book  and  became  absorbed  in  it,  his  mind  being 
perfectly  quiet.  After  some  twenty  minutes  he  says : 
"  Suddenly,  without  a  moment's  warning,  my  whole  being 
seemed  roused  to  the  highest  state  of  tension  or  alertness, 
and  I  was  aware,  with  an  intensity  not  easily  imagined 
by  those  who  have  never  experienced  it,  that  another 
being  or  presence  was  not  only  in  the  room  but  close 
to  me.  I  put  my  book  down,  and  although  my  excite- 
ment was  great,  I  felt  quite  collected  and  not  conscious 
of  any  sense  of  fear.     Without  changing  my  position,  and 


TELEPATHY  139 

looking  straight  at  the  tire,  I  knew  somehoAv  that  my  friend 
A.  H,  was  standing  at  my  left  elbow,  but  so  far  behind  me 
as  to  be  hidden  by  the  arm-chair  in  which  I  was  leaning 
back." 

On  moving  his  eyes  slightly  Mr.  Kearne  distinguished 
the  lower  portion  of  one  leg,  and  recognised  the  grey-blue 
trousers  often  worn  by  his  friend.  The  stuff  appeared 
semi-transparent,  reminding  him  of  tobacco  smoke  in 
its  consistency,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  see  more,  and 
gazed  at  the  fire  in  front  of  him.  After  an  appreciable 
time,  probably  some  seconds,  although  it  seemed  much 
longer,  he  distinctly  saw,  about  four  feet  away  from  him, 
and  almost  immediately  behind  his  chair,  the  figure  of 
his  friend,  the  face  very  pale,  the  head  slightly  thrown 
back,  the  eyes  shut,  and  on  one  side  of  the  throat,  just 
under  the  jaw,  a  wound  with  blood  on  it.  The  figure 
remained  motionless,  with  the  arms  close  to  the  side,  and 
Mr.  Kearne  looked  steadily  at  it.  Then  all  at  once  he 
roused  himself  and  turned  deliberately  round,  when  the 
figure  vanished ;  he  then  realised  that  he  had  seen 
the  figure  behind  him — an  impossible  feat  physically. 
Being  accustomed  to  psychical  phenomena,  Mr.  Kearne 
carefully  noted  the  time  of  the  apparition,  10.50  p.m.  He 
thought  that  an  accident  must  have  happened  to  his 
friend.  At  11.35  a  cab  stopped  at  the  door,  and  his 
friend  arrived  :  he  had  been,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  victim 
of  an  accident  which  had  caused  a  wound  identical  with 
that  which  Mr.  Kearne  had  telepathically  seen.  On  leav- 
ing the  station  Mr.  A.  H.  had  gone  into  a  restaurant  to 
have  some  supper.  He  complamed  of  the  heat,  and  went 
out  into  the  street  to  get  some  fresh  air.  He  suddenly 
felt  his  senses  leave  him,  and  fell  heavily  forward,  strik- 
ing his  jaw  on  the  edge  of  the  curb.  It  was  apparently 
during  this  faintness  that  he  had  telepathically  affected 
his  friend  Mr.  Kearne. 

I  will  now  quote  two  instances  in  which  the  agent  was 
dead  :  the  percipient  saw  in  a  dream  the  whole  of  the  scene 
accompanying  the  death,  with  an  extraordinary  precision 


140  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

as  to  small  details,  which  makes  these  two  cases  very 
remarkable. 

The  first  was  mentioned  in  L'Eclio  du  inerveilleux  in 
1906,  and  was  narrated  by  Lieut.-Colonel  Etienne  Peroz. 

"It  was  at  the  station  of  Niagassola  in  the  Soudan, 
where,  for  several  months,  along  with  my  little  garrison 
and  the  population  of  the  village  protected  by  the  fort, 
I  had  been  besieged  by  the  army  of  Samory.  One  must 
have  read  the  description  of  a  siege  in  the  darkest  hours 
of  the  Middle  Ages  to  be  able  to  imagine  the  horrible 
distress  in  which  all  these  soldiers,  old  men,  women,  and 
children,  lived  for  close  on  six  months.  Famine,  pesti- 
lence, and  smallpox  were  among  the  evils  let  loose,  and 
they  thinned  the  population  alarmingly. 

"  Two-thirds  of  the  adult  population,  three-fourths  of 
the  children,  more  than  four  thousand  of  the  inhabitants 
died  during  those  terrible  days. 

"  Two  thousand  emaciated  figures  were  still  guarding 
the  walls  when  the  siege  was  raised. 

"  Our  garrison  had  also  suffered  considerable  mortality. 
Out  of  twenty-two  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates, 
gunners  or  foot-soldiers,  at  the  end  of  the  siege,  only  five 
were  left.  Of  my  faithful  black  sharp-shooters,  one-fourth 
had  disappeared.  But  I  forget  my  story — a  curious 
instance  of  telepathy.  These  sorrowful  reminiscences 
are,  after  all,  the  cause  of  this  digression.  Well,  a  few 
months  before  I  left  France,  I  had  seen  embark  on  the 
expedition  for  China  directed  by  Admiral  Courbet,  of 
glorious  memory,  a  comrade  for  whom  I  had  sincere 
affection.  Lieutenant  Zaph  had  served  under  your  com- 
mand, and  therefore,  like  myself,  you  have  appreciated 
his  good  will,  energy,  and  courage.  It  was  with  real 
anguish  of  heart  that  I  had  parted  from  him,  as  though 
I  should  never  see  him  again.  But  time  had  passed  and 
I  confess  that  my  life  of  dangers  somewhat  obscured  the 
memory  of  him,  when  one  night,  at  Niagassola,  I  saw 
Zaph,  wounded  and  dying — sorrowful  moments  of  which 
I  can  see  again  all  the  details  and  circumstances. 

"  A   band  of  Chinese  Black-Flags  passed   close  to  a 


TELEPATHY  141 

hoarding,  engaged  with  a  company  of  marine  infantry. 
I  heard  the  fusillade  and  looked  on,  between  two  clouds 
of  powder  smoke,  at  the  terrible  hand-to-hand  combat, 
when  I  saw  Zaph,  his  sword  in  one  hand,  his  revolver 
in  the  other,  encouraging  his  men ;  then,  before  my  eyes, 
he  fell  struck  by  several  shots.  I  leaned  over  his  body, 
the  face  of  which  was  covered  with  blood,  and  with  his  last 
look  he  seemed  to  bid  me  adieu.  I  was  so  struck  with  this 
dream  that  on  opening  my  eyes  I  went  to  the  table  and 
seizing  my  pen  I  made  a  note  in  the  margin  of  my  diary  of 
the  Siege,  of  the  dream  I  had  had,  with  the  hour  and  date. 

"We  had  been  cut  off  from  communication  with  the 
rest  of  the  world  for  eighty  days  and  we  lived  thus  isolated 
for  three  months  longer. 

"When  we  were  eventually  released,  and  news  from 
France  could  reach  us,  and  when  I  had  read  through 
the  voluminous  packet  of  letters  from  my  family  and 
my  friends,  I  looked  through  the  newspapers,  when  a 
number  of  the  Tahlettes  des  Deux-Charentes,  a  naval 
paper,  apprised  me  of  the  death  of  my  comrade  Zaph, 
in  China,  on  the  same  date  and  in  the  exact  circumstances 
that  I  had  dreamed. 

"  It  is  a  problem  which  I  shall  not  attempt  to  solve, 
but  this  coincidence  impressed  me  for  a  long  time.  Was 
it  his  spirit  that  came  to  me  at  the  moment  of  his  death  ? 
Was  my  double  projected  and  transported  close  to  him  ? 
Unfathomable  mystery ! " 

The  second  case  is  equally  precise  in  itsi  details  and 
presents  this  further  peculiarity  that  the  percipient  had 
never  seen  the  agent.  We  are  unable  to  admit  here  that 
the  thoughts  of  the  agent  were  carried,  at  the  moment 
of  death,  to  the  percipient. 

We  shall  find  similar  cases  of  knowledge  of  events 
reaching  persons  who  were  complete  strangers  to  the 
matter,  in  the  phenomena  of  typtology. 

The  writer  of  this  narrative  is  the  wife  of  a  merchant, 
a  Quaker,  and  very  trustworthy.  Some  years  ago  she  told 
us  of  the  event  with  more  details,  while  it  was  still  fresh 


142  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

in  her  memory.  Her  husband  can  guarantee  that  she 
told  him  these  facts  at  the  very  moment:  he  can  also 
bear  witness  to  the  strange  effect  which  the  dream  had 
upon  his  wife's  mind  for  some  time  afterwards. 

"  From  Mrs.  Green  to  Miss  Richardson 

"Newry,  21si  First  Month,  1885. 

"  Dear  Friend, — In  compliance  with  thy  request,  I 
give  thee  the  particulars  of  my  dream. 

"  I  saw  two  respectably  dressed  females  driving  alone 
in  a  vehicle  like  a  mineral-water  cart.  Their  horse 
stopped  at  a  water  to  drink  ;  but  as  there  was  no  footing 
he  lost  his  balance,  and  in  trying  to  recover  it  he  plunged 
right  in.  With  the  shock,  the  women  stood  up  and 
shouted  for  help,  and  their  hats  rose  off  their  heads, 
and  as  all  were  going  down  I  turned  away  crying,  and 
saying,  '  Was  there  no  one  at  all  to  help  them  ? '  upon 
which  I  awoke,  and  my  husband  asked  me  what  was 
the  matter.  I  related  the  above  dream  to  him,  and  he 
asked  me  if  I  knew  them.  I  said  I  did  not,  and  thought 
I  had  never  seen  either  of  them.  The  impression  of 
the  dream  and  the  trouble  it  brought  was  over  me  all 
day.  I  remarked  to  my  son  it  was  the  anniversary  of 
his  birthday  and  my  own  also — the  10th  of  First  Month, 
and  this  is  why  I  remember  the  date. 

"  The  following  third  month  I  got  a  letter  and  newspaper 
from  my  brother  in  Australia,  named  Allen,  letting  me 
know  the  sad  trouble  which  had  befallen  him  in  the  loss, 
by  drowning,  of  one  of  his  daughters  and  her  companion. 
Thou  wilt  see  by  the  description  given  of  it  in  the  paper 
how  the  event  corresponded  with  my  dream.  My  niece 
was  born  in  Australia,  and  I  never  saw  her. 

"  Please  return  the  paper  at  thy  convenience.  Con- 
sidering that  our  night  is  their  day,  I  must  have  been  in 
sympathy  with  the  sufferers  at  the  time  of  the  accident, 
on  the  10th  of  First  Month,  1878." 

It  is  referred  to  in  two  separate  places  in  the  news- 
paper. 


TELEPATHY  143 


From  the  "  Inglewood  Advertiser." 

"Fkiday  Evening,  January  11,  1878. 

"  A  dreadful  accident  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Wedderburn  on  Wednesday  last,  resulting  in  the  death  of 
two  women  named  Lehey  and  Allen.  It  appears  that  the 
deceased  were  driving  into  Wedderburn  in  a  spring-cart 
from  the  direction  of  Kinypanial,  when  they  attempted  to 
water  their  horse  at  a  dam  on  the  boundary  of  Torpichen 
Station.  The  dam  was  10  or  12  feet  deep  in  one  spot, 
and  into  this  deep  hole  they  must  have  inadvertently 
driven ;  for  Mr.  W.  M'Kechnie,  manager  of  Torpichen 
Station,  upon  going  to  the  dam  some  hours  afterwards, 
discovered  the  spring-cart  and  horse  under  the  water,  and 
two  women's  hats  floating  on  the  surface.  The  dam  was 
searched,  and  the  bodies  of  the  two  women,  clasped  in  each 
other's  arms,  recovered." 

Extract  from  Evidence  given  at  the  Inquest. 

Joseph  John  Allen,  farmer,  deposed :  "  I  identify  one 
of  the  bodies  as  that  of  my  sister.  I  saw  her  about  11 
A.M.  yesterday.  The  horse  had  broken  away,  and  I  caught 
it  for  her.  Mrs.  Lehey  and  my  sister  met  me  when  I 
caught  the  horse.  They  then  took  the  horse  and  went  to 
Mr.  Clarke's.     I  did  not  see  them  afterwards  alive." 

William  M'Kechnie  deposed  :  "  About  4  p.m.  yesterday 
I  was  riding  by  the  dam  when  I  observed  the  legs  of  a 
horse  and  the  chest  above  the  water." 

Mr.  Green  confirms  as  follows : — 

"Newky,  I5th  Second  Month,  1885. 

"  Dear  Friend  Edith  Richardson, — In  reference  to  the 
dream  that  my  wife  had  of  seeing  two  women  thrown  out 
of  a  spring-cart  by  their  horse  stopping  to  drink  out  of 
the  deep  water,  I  remember  she  was  greatly  distressed 
about  it,  and  seemed  to  feel  great  sympathy  for  them.  It 
occurred  on  the  night  of  the  9th  of  January. 


144  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  The  reason  I  can  remember  the  date  so  well  is  that  the 
10th  was  the  anniversary  of  my  wife  and  our  son's  birth- 
day. As  the  day  advanced  she  seemed  to  get  worse,  and 
I  advised  her  to  go  out  for  a  drive ;  when  she  returned 
she  told  me  she  was  no  better,  and  also  said  she  had  told 
the  driver  not  to  go  near  water,  lest  some  accident  should 
happen,  as  she  had  such  a  dreadful  dream  the  night  before, 
at  the  same  time  telling  him  the  nature  of  it.  As  my 
wife's  niece  did  not  live  with  her  father,  he  was  not  told 
of  it  until  the  next  morning,  which  would  be  our  evening 
of  the  10th,  and  which  we  think  accounted  for  the  in- 
creased trouble  she  felt  in  sympathy  with  him. 

"Thos.  Green." 

I  shall  place  the  following  case  in  the  same  category : 
the  details  of  the  vision  are  also  very  complete ;  and  this 
case  only  differs  from  the  preceding  in  the  fact  that  the 
agent  was  not  dead. 

The  family  of  M.  N.  consisted  of  himself,  his  wife, 
daughter,  and  son ;  the  latter  had  been  recently  promoted 
to  the  grade  of  midshipman,  and  had  spent  the  summer  at 
Pavlovsk,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Petersburg. 

From  their  earliest  years  the  brother  and  sister  had 
an  affection  for  one  another  which  almost  amounted  to 
adoration. 

While  there  the  young  midshipman  received  orders  to 
go  for  a  month's  sea  voyage,  and  his  relatives  accompanied 
him  to  the  port  where  he  had  to  embark.  At  the  moment 
of  parting,  turning  towards  his  sister,  he  said  to  her  :  "  Do 
not  forget  me:  you  are  called  Vera  (which  means  'faith'), 
and  we  are  saved  by  faith :  think  of  me  and  all  will  be 
well." 

"  Have  confidence,"  replied  the  young  girl.  "  I  shall 
think  of  you  very  often  ;  but  do  not  run  any  risks  by  going 
too  far  on  the  sea,  it  is  so  terrible ! " 

"  Come,  come,  you  sailor  people,  with  your  presenti- 
ments and  superstitions,"  said  her  father  laughing,  in  order 
to  drive  away  the  sorrow  of  their  parting ;  "  you  will 
make  me  laugh  at  you." 


TELE1*ATHY  145 

The  weeks  passed.  Letters  frequently  came  from  the 
young  sailor,  and  at  home  they  became  more  calm  and 
reassured  the  nearer  the  day  approached  for  the  return 
of  the  traveller. 

The  weather  up  to  then  had  been  very  fine  and  favour- 
able ;  suddenly  it  changed :  the  sky  became  cloudy,  and 
the  rain  came. 

One  day  was  particularly  bad  :  during  the  morning  the 
rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  the  wind  blew  violently.  Vera 
was  very  nervous  and  agitated  all  day,  anxious  on  her 
brother's  account,  wondering  where  he  was  and  how  he 
was  going  on.  Towards  the  evening  she  became  quite  ill, 
and  her  parents  induced  her  to  lie  down. 

At  ten  o'clock  all  was  quiet  in  the  house :  the  storm 
had  spent  its  fury.  Suddenly  a  terrible  cry,  which  had 
nothing  human  about  it,  came  from  the  young  girl's  room. 
Everybody  hastened  to  her,  and  they  found  Vera  in  violent 
hysterics.  She  was  in  convulsions  for  a  long  time,  and  it 
was  only  with  difficulty  that  they  could  calm  her  to  some 
extent. 

In  reply  to  the  questions  that  were  put  to  her.  Vera 
said  that  she  had  had  a  terrible  vision. 

"  I  do  not  seem  to  have  gone  to  sleep  at  all,  although 
I  saw  something  terrible.  At  first  everything  seemed  en- 
veloped in  a  frightful  gloom  :  the  tempest  increased  around 
me,  and  the  thunder  deafened  me  with  its  noise.  By  the 
light  of  a  flash  of  lightning  I  saw  the  sea  agitated  and 
covered  with  foam.  Suddenly  it  was  illuminated  for  a 
moment  by  a  red  light,  and  I  saw  my  brother  struggling 
asainst  the  waves.  Then  the  darkness  returned ;  after  a 
little  time  a  second  flash  of  lightning'  broke  through  the 
clouds,  and  by  its  light  I  saw  my  brother  lying  on  a  rock 
with  his  head  covered  with  blood— the  horror  and  fright 
awakened  me." 

On  the  evening  of  the  following  day  M.  N.  received  a 
telegram  as  follows  : — 

"  Alive  and  well ;  thanks  to  Verotschka.  Shall  arrive 
in  a  few  days.     Your  son,  N." 

As  may  be  imagined,  M.  N.  was  greatly  astonished,  but 

K 


146  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

at  the  same  time  pleased  to  receive  the  telegram,  although 
it  appeared  incomprehensible.  The  enigma  would  soon 
be  solved. 

The  following  day  on  reading  his  newspaper  M.  N. 
found  a  detailed  report  of  the  shipwreck  of  the  vessel  on 
Avhich  his  son  was  serving.  He  immediately  proceeded  to 
Kronstadt,  where  he  found  his  son  alive  but  suffering  from 
a  serious  wound  on  the  head. 

On  the  da}'  of  the  shipwreck  the  vessel  was  close  to  the 
Aland  Islands.  The  wind  rose  and  became  more  and 
more  violent,  and  all  the  sailors  said  that  a  tempest  was 
blowing  up. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  young  midshipman 
finished  his  watch  and  went  into  his  cabin  to  refresh  him- 
self with  a  cup  of  tea,  after  which,  putting  on  some  warmer 
clothing,  he  went  up  on  deck  to  look  at  the  tempest.  It 
was,  in  fact,  terrible.  The  vessel,  which  could  no  longer 
contend  against  the  waves,  had  to  be  abandoned  to  the 
current. 

More  than  once  young  N.  thought  of  his  people  at  his 
father's  house  and,  in  thought,  asked  his  sister  to  pray  for 
him  that  he  might  be  rescued,  along  with  the  crew,  from 
an  almost  inevitable  death. 

In  the  midst  of  the  hurricane  he  suddenly  heard  a 
terrible  noise ;  the  unfortunate  vessel  had  gone  on  to  the 
rocks.  The  shock  was  so  violent  that  all  on  deck  were 
thrown  down  and  the  midshipman  N.  overboard.  After 
rising  to  the  surface  he  tried  to  keep  up  and  make  towards 
the  vessel  in  the  hope  of  receiving  help. 

The  wind  brought  him  the  order :  "All  hands  on  deck." 

A  red  light  pierced  the  darkness  and  he  heard  a  gun 
fired. 

Soon  N.  became  aware  that  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  get  to  the  ship,  the  waves  mounted  so  high  that  he  was 
powerless  to  swim  across  them. 

In  thought  ho  put  himself  into  the  hands  of  the 
Almighty,  and  keeping  himself  above  water  as  well  as  he 
could,  he  let  himself  be  carried  along.  Suddenly  he  saw 
coming  closer  to  him  something  like  a  thin  bright  mist, 


tx 


TELEPATHY  147 

which  gradually  took  a  human  form,  and  in  the  white 
apparition  he  recognised  his  sister  Vera,  who  smiled  to 
him  and  held  out  her  arm  as  though  to  point  out  a  certain 
spot.  The  brother  followed  the  phantom  of  his  sister. 
He  did  not  remember  how  long  he  took  or  where  he  swam 
to :  suddenly  he  felt  a  sharp  pain  in  his  head  and  lost 
consciousness. 

On  the  following  morning  some  fishermen  found  him 
lying  unconscious  on  a  sand-bank  with  a  deep  wound  in  his 
head. 

The  sand-bank  was  ten  leagues  away  from  the  place 
of  the  shipwreck.  A  boat  was  sent  out  to  assist  and 
they  found  the  vessel  still  on  the  water,  but  abandoned  by 
the  crew  who,  not  trusting  themselves  to  a  lifeboat,  had 
fallen  a  prey  to  the  sea.  M.  Makarevskaja. 

I  now  come  to  a  series  of  very  remarkable  cases. 

We  observe  that  a  much  more  active  part  is  here  taken 
by  the  agents  in  the  telepathic  communication,  for  they 
are,  in  these  cases,  conscious  of  the  vision  which  they 
produce  in  the  recipients. 

In  the  first  case,  the  phenomenon  is  further  complicated 
by  the  fact  that  the  vision  is  perceived  by  two  different 
persons. 

In  October  1883^  Mr.  Wilmot  was  on  the  sea  between 
Liverpool  and  New  York.  A  tempest  raged  for  eight  days ; 
but  on  the  night  following  the  eighth  day  the  sea  became 
a  little  calmer.  For  the  first  time  since  his  departure  Mr. 
Wilmot  was  able  to  enjoy  a  refreshing  sleep.  Towards  the 
morning  he  had  the  following  dream :  his  wife,  whom  he 
had  left  in  the  United  States,  came  to  the  door  of  his 
cabin  clad  in  her  nightdress.  She  seemed  to  see  that  he 
was  not  the  only  occupant  of  the  room,  hesitated  a  little, 
then  went  forward  to  her  husband,  stooped  down  and 
kissed  him,  and,  after  gently  caressing  him  for  a  few 
moments,  withdrew.  Mr.  Tait,  his  fellow-passenger, 
occupied  a  berth  which  was  almost  directly  over  his.  On 
awaking  Mr.  Wilmot  saw  Mr.  Tait,  leaning  on  his  elbow  in 

^  Myers'  Human  Personality. 


148  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

bed,  looking  fixedly  at  him.  He  said :  "  You're  a  pretty 
fellow  to  have  a  lady  come  and  visit  you  in  this  way." 
After  the  explanations  which  followed  it  seemed  evident 
to  Mr.  Wilmot  that  Mr.  Tait  when  awake  had  seen  in  an 
hallucination — was  it  an  hallucination  ? — the  same  details 
as  he  had  in  dream.  The  strangeness  of  the  fact  did  not 
stop  there.  When  Mr.  Wilmot  landed  one  of  the  first 
questions  his  wife  put  to  him  was :  "  Did  you  receive  a 
visit  from  me  a  week  ago  Tuesday  ? " 

"  A  visit  from  you ! "  he  said ;  "  I  was  on  the  sea  a 
thousand  miles  away." 

"  I  know,"  she  replied  ;  "  nevertheless  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  visited  you," 

And  then  Mrs.  Wilmot  stated  that  the  bad  weather 
had  caused  her  much  anxiety.  On  the  night  in  question 
she  slept  very  little :  towards  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
it  seemed  to  her  that  she  went  to  look  for  her  husband. 
She  crossed  the  wide  and  stormy  sea,  came  at  length  to 
a  steamship,  whose  side  she  went  up  and  then  descended 
into  her  husband's  cabin. 

"  There  were  two  berths,"  she  said, "  yours  and  one  over- 
head farther  back.  A  man  was  in  that  one  and  he  looked 
right  at  me.  For  a  moment  I  was  afraid  to  go  in ;  then  I 
went  to  your  bed,  stooped  down  and  kissed  you,  and  then 
went  away." 

In  the  following  cases  not  only  is  the  agent  conscious 
of  the  telepathic  phenomenon  that  he  produces,  but  by  an 
effort  of  the  will  he  makes  himself  visible  to  the  percipient 
chosen  by  him.  These  cases  of  experimental  telepathy 
are  very  rare ;  but  they  present  the  greatest  interest. 

The  subjoined  example  of  experimental  telepathy  is 
narrated  by  M.  B.,  and  is  taken  from  Phantasms  of  the 
Living. 

"  On  a  certain  Sunday  evening  in  November  1881, 
having  been  reading  of  the  great  power  which  the  human 
will  is  capable  of  exercising,  I  determined  with  the  whole 
force  of  my  being  that  I  would  be  present  in  spirit  in  the 
front  bedroom  on  the  second  floor  of  a  house  situated  at 


TELEPATHY  149 

22  Hogarth  Road,  Kensington,  in  which  room  slept  two 
ladies  of  my  acquaintance,  Miss  L.  S.  V.  and  Miss  E.  C.  V., 
aged  respectively  25  and  11  years.  I  was  living  at  this 
time  at  23  Kildare  Gardens,  a  distance  of  three  miles 
from  Hogarth  Road.  I  did  not  mention  in  any  way  my 
intention  of  trying  this  experiment  to  either  of  the  above 
ladies,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  was  only  on  retiring 
to  rest  upon  this  Sunday  night  that  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  do  so.  The  time  at  which  I  was  determined  I  would 
be  there  was  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  also  had  a 
strong  intention  of  making  my  presence  perceptible. 

"  On  the  following  Thursday  I  went  to  see  the  ladies  in 
question,  and  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  (without  any 
allusion  to  the  subject  on  my  part)  the  elder  one  told  me 
that  on  the  previous  Sunday  night  she  had  been  terrified 
by  perceiving  me  standing  by  her  bedside,  and  that  she 
screamed  when  the  apparition  advanced  towards  her  and 
awoke  her  little  sister,  who  saw  me  also. 

"  I  asked  her  if  she  was  awake  at  the  time,  and  she 
replied  '  most  decidedly  '  in  the  affirmative,  and  upon  my 
inquiring  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  she  replied,  'About 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning.' 

"  This  lady  at  my  request  wrote  down  a  statement  of 
the  event  and  signed  it. 

"  This  was  the  first  occasion  upon  which  I  tried  an 
experiment  of  this  kind,  and  its  particular  success 
startled  me  very  much.  It  was  not  only  my  will  that 
I  had  strongly  exerted.  I  had  also  made  an  effort  of 
a  special  nature  which  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe. 
I  was  conscious  of  a  mysterious  influence  pervading  my 
body." 

The  signatures  of  the  two  young  ladies  are  appended 
to  this  document. 

The  second  case  has  been  taken  from  the  Annales  des 
Sciences  Psychiqiies. 

The  case  is  that  of  Mme.  Russell  of  Belgaum  (India), 
wife  of  Mr.  H.  R.  Russell,  Inspector  of  Schools  in  the 
Presidency  of  Bombay. 


150  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  June  8,  188G. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  wish  you  have  expressed  I 
write  the  following  facts  as  well  as  I  can  recall  them. 
I  was  living  in  Scotland,  my  mother  and  sisters  being  in 
Germany.  I  lived  with  a  friend  who  was  very  dear  to 
me,  and  I  usually  went  to  Germany  every  year  to  see  my 
relatives.  It  so  happened  that  I  could  not  go  to  my 
family,  as  was  my  custom,  for  two  years,  when  suddenly  I 
decided  to  go  and  see  my  relatives.  They  knew  nothing 
of  my  intention.  I  had  never  gone  at  the  beginning  of 
spring,  and  there  was  not  time  to  advise  them  by  letter. 
I  would  not  send  a  telegram  for  fear  of  frightening  my 
mother.  The  thought  came  to  me  to  will  with  all  my 
might  to  appear  to  one  or  other  of  my  sisters,  but  in  such 
a  manner  that  they  might  know  of  my  intended  arrival. 
I  thought  of  it  with  all  the  intensity  possible  for  a  few 
minutes  only,  desiring  with  all  power  to  be  seen  by  one  of 
them  (I  myself  experienced  a  vision  in  which  I  seemed  to 
be  partly  transported  into  their  midst).  I  did  not  con- 
centrate my  thoughts  for  more  than  ten  minutes,  I  think. 
I  left  Leith  by  steamer,  one  Saturday  evening,  at  the  end 
of  April  1859.  I  desired  to  appear  at  the  house  about  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening  on  the  same  Saturday.  I  arrived 
at  the  house  about  six  o'clock  on  the  following  Tuesday 
morning.  I  went  into  the  house  without  being  seen, 
because  the  hall  was  being  cleaned  and  the  entrance  door 
was  open.  I  went  into  the  room.  One  of  my  sisters  had 
her  back  turned  to  the  door.  She  turned  round  when  she 
heard  the  door  open,  and  on  seemg  me  gazed  fixedly  at 
me,  became  deadly  pale,  and  let  fall  what  she  had  been 
holding  in  her  hand.  I  had  said  nothing.  Then  I  spoke 
and  said :  '  It  is  I.  Why  are  you  so  frightened  ? '  She 
then  replied :  '  I  thought  I  was  seeing  you  as  Stinckin 
(another  of  my  sisters)  saw  you  on  Saturday.' 

"  In  reply  to  my  questions,  she  told  me  that  on  Satur- 
day evening,  about  six  o'clock,  my  sister  distinctly  saw  me 
come  into  the  room,  where  she  was  standing  beside  the 
door,  open  the  door  of  another  room  where  my  mother 
was,  and  close  the  door  behind  me.     She  darted  forward 


TELEPATHY  151 

after  what  she  believed  to  be  me,  called  nie  by  my  name, 
and  was  quite  stupefied  when  she  did  not  see  me  with  my 
mother.  My  mother  could  not  understand  my  sister's 
excitement.  They  looked  everywhere  for  me,  but  natur- 
ally could  not  find  me.  My  mother  was  very  much  upset ; 
she  thought  I  might  be  dying. 

"  My  sister  who  had  seen  me  (that  is  to  say,  my  ap- 
parition) had  gone  out  on  the  morning  of  my  arrival.  I 
sat  down  on  the  steps  to  see  what  would  be  her  experience 
when  she  returned  and  saw  me  in  the  flesh.  When  she 
looked  at  me  sitting  quite  still  she  called  me  and  nearly 
fainted.  My  sister  had  never  seen  anything  supernormal, 
either  before  or  since;  and  I  have  not  renewed  these 
experiments  since,  and  I  shall  not  do  so  any  more,  because 
the  sister  who  first  saw  me,  when  I  was  really  in  the 
house,  fell  seriously  ill  as  the  result  of  the  shock  which 
she  experienced. 

It  is  necessary  to  make  some  remarks  on  the  subject 
of  these  telepathic  phenomena,  which  we  have  tried  to 
class  in  a  methodical  manner. 

We  must  observe  first  of  all  that  this  classification  is 
not  final.  Though  we  have  taken  as  a  general  basis  the 
state  of  the  agent  and  the  manner  in  which  the  com- 
munication reaches  the  percipient,  it  necessarily  happens 
that  some  cases  cannot  be  placed  as  they  should  be  with 
regard  to  both  agent  and  percipient  at  the  same  time. 

This  provisional  classification  will  nevertheless  be  use- 
ful to  enable  us  to  study  the  phenomenon  in  a  more 
methodical  manner. 


Considerations  relating  to  the  Agent 

In  the  majority  of  cases  we  have  seen  that  the  agent  is 
at  the  point  of  death  at  the  moment  when  the  telepathic 
communication  takes  place. 

The  researches  which  have  been  made  have  nearlyalways 
shown  an  almost  perfect  coincidence  between  the  time  of 
the  death  of  the  agent  and  the  telepathic  communication. 


152  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

In  the  less  numerous  cases  in  which  the  telepathic 
communication  seems  to  have  taken  place  after  death,  we 
can  in  all  probability  attribute  this  fact  to  a  delay  in  its 
reception. 

In  other  cases,  the  agent  has  not  died,  but  has  met 
with  a  serious  accident,  and,  most  frequently,  this  accident 
is  accompanied  by  loss  of  consciousness. 

This  loss  of  consciousness  may  be  regarded  as  a 
momentary  death,  and  the  state  of  the  subject  at  this 
time  is  probably  the  same  as  it  would  be  at  the  approach 
of  death. 

In  some  much  rarer  cases,  the  subject  is  simply  in  a 
state  of  sleep ;  and,  finally,  when  there  is  voluntary  tele- 
pathic communication,  the  subject  is  in  a  very  special 
condition  of  concentration  of  mind. 

The  state  of  sleep,  accompanied  by  a  persistent  pre- 
occupation with  the  same  subject,  in  the  same  way  as 
voluntary  mental  concentration,  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
produce  a  special  condition,  which  we  may  regard  as 
analogous  to  some  hypnotic  states. 

Normal  sleep  can  be  easily  transformed,  as  we  have 
seen,  into  a  hypnotic  condition  ;  with  spontaneous  som- 
nambulists it  often  occurs  as  the  result  of  violent  crises 
or  lively  emotions. 

It  therefore  seems  that  in  the  persons  who  become 
the  agents  of  a  telepathic  communication,  the  conditions 
requisite  for  the  production  of  a  hypnotic  state  are  often 
present.  It  is  not  therefore  unreasonable  to  think  that  it 
is  by  reason  of  a  hypnotic  condition  of  this  character  that 
the  agent  acquires  the  new  faculties  that  are  manifested 
in  the  telepathic  communication. 

Considerations  relating  to  the  Percipient 

Let  us  first  of  all  look  at  the  conditions  in  the  case  of 
the  percipient. 

In  a  number  of  cases  the  percipient  is  asleep,  but  we 
shall  observe  that  this  docs  not  apply  to  one-half  of  the 
cases. 


TELEPATHY  153 

In  other  cases  wc  find  a  condition  of  semi-sleep.  We 
may  even  include  among  these  the  cases  in  which  the 
condition  of  the  subject  is  not  perfectly  defined,  but  where 
the  circumstances  permit  us  to  believe  that  he  was  dis- 
posed to  fall  into  unconscious  somnolence. 

In  some  circumstances  the  subject  in  a  waking  state  is 
impelled  to  place  himself  in  a  state  of  superficial  somnam- 
bulism by  auto-hypnotism.  This  happens  in  the  examples 
of  automatic  writing. 

Finally,  the  subject  is  in  a  waking  state,  but,  as  the 
result  of  chance  conditions,  he  is  motionless  before  a  bril- 
liant object  which  seems  to  fascinate  him.  The  subject  is 
looking  in  a  glass,  or,  perhaps,  is  at  a  table  before  a  glass, 
a  decanter,  &c. 

The  subject  is  in  a  waking  state,  but  is  dreamy,  pre- 
occupied ;  his  attention  is  fixed  on  one  thought  only,  and 
most  frequently  this  thought,  or  the  object  of  his  pre-occu- 
pation,  is  no  other  than  the  agent  from'whom  he  is  about 
to  receive  a  telepathic  communication. 

These  conditions  are  certainly  of  a  character  to  act 
upon  the  psychical  body  of  the  percipient,  and  to  bring  it 
into  a  condition  of  special  receptivity.  Remembering  at 
the  same  time  what  we  have  seen  in  hypnology  and  the 
particular  conditions  which  we  are  examining,  we  shall 
not  go  too  far  in  saying  that  these  conditions  are  of  such 
a  character  as  to  place  the  percipient  in  a  state  of  super- 
ficial somnambulism  or  of  passive  mediumship. 

Let  us  then  see  in  what  way  the  reception  of  a  tele- 
pathic communication  comes  to  the  percipient. 

First  of  all  it  may  be  a  purely  mental  impression,  such 
as  is  produced  in  experimental  thought  -  transmission. 
This  is  the  case  in  simple  premonition  and  presentiment. 
They  are  simple  telepathic  warnings  without  hallucination 
or  vision. 

In  the  second  place,  there  may  be  hallucination  with- 
out vision.  Most  frequently  it  is  an  auditive  hallucina- 
tion ;  the  noise  of  a  hurricane,  of  windows  or  doors  being 
violently  closed,  of  glasses  or  other  articles  being  broken, 
of  knocks  made  on  doors  or  walls,  of  steps  on  the  floor,  or 


154  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

there  may  be  a  motor  hallucination,  the  subject  feels  a 
movement  or  a  shaking  of  the  bed  or  the  chair  in  which 
he  is.  It  must  be  noted  that  this  hallucination  may  be 
collective,  we  can  even  say  that  it  frequently  is  so,  but 
the  hallucination  has  only  a  telepathic  significance  for  the 
percipient  concerned  ;  other  people,  who  perceive  it  simul- 
taneously, attribute  it  to  some  commonplace  cause  which 
is  afterwards  found  not  to  be  the  real  one. 

Lastly,  the  telepathic  communication  may  be  received 
in  the  form  of  a  vision,  and  this  vision  can  be  subdivided 
into  several  categories  : — 

The  simple  vision  of  the  image  of  the  agent. 

The  vision  of  the  agent  with  some  details  of  his  con- 
dition on  the  image  itself — pallor,  sorrow,  wounds. 

The  vision  of  the  agent  along  with  a  more  or  less 
detailed  vision  of  the  scene  and  circumstances  of  the 
accident. 

The  vision  is  perceived  by  several  persons. 

The  vision  leaves  objective  traces  of  its  passage. 

Considerations  on  the  Relations  or  the  Rapport  between 
Agent  and  Percipient 

Generally  speaking,  there  exists  a  great  intimacy 
between  the  two  subjects,  often  the  links  of  parentage 
or  friendship;  it  is  rarely  that  the  two  subjects  are  un- 
connected with  each  other. 

We  may  assume,  as  a  deduction  from  the  relations 
existing  between  them,  that,  most  frequently,  the  agent 
thinks  of  the  percipient  at  the  time  of  the  communica- 
tion, and  with  all  the  greater  intensity  since  he  is  in 
an  abnormal  state,  a  state  of  anguish  in  which  all  his 
thoughts  are  momentarily  concentrated  on  a  single  object, 
namely,  the  percipient. 

The  percipient  by  reason  of  his  intimacy  with  the  agent, 
and  often  because  of  the  conditions  in  which  he  knows 
the  latter  is,  often  turns  his  thoughts  towards  him.  The 
agent  is  the  object  of  one  of  his  principal  preoccupations, 
and  one  can  even  say  that,  if  he  is  not  always  present  m 


TELEPATHY  155 

his  memory,  a  latent  and  sub-conscious  part  of  his  mind 
is  constantly  directed  towards  him. 

The  result  of  these  conditions  is  that,  in  cases  of  this 
kind,  the  two  subjects  are  often  in  conditions  analogous  to 
those  in  which  experimenters  voluntarily  place  themselves 
for  thought-transmission. 

There  now  remains,  outside  of  these  conditions,  the  case 
in  which  the  telepathic  phenomenon  is  observed  between 
two  subjects  who  are  unknown  to  each  other,  or  only  very 
slightly  connected. 

In  such  cases  one  must  invoke  another  mechanism, 
and  here  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity  is  dominant. 

The  percipient,  owing  to  a  state  of  lucidity,  sees  what 
is  happening  around  the  agent,  towards  whom  his  faculty 
of  lucidity  is  directed  by  an  intermediary  subject  more  or 
less  closely  related.  That  is  so,  in  the  instances  where 
the  percipient  witnesses  the  scene  at  the  moment  of  its 
accomplishment. 

In  cases  where  the  percipient  witnesses  the  fact  or  the 
accident  subsequently  to  the  time  when  it  takes  place,  we 
may  assume  that,  on  account  of  his  being  in  a  special 
state,  he  is  in  such  a  receptive  condition  that  he  can 
receive  the  impression  of  a  thought,  previously  sent  forth 
by  the  agent.  This  thought  has  up  to  that  time  remained 
latent  in  the  same  way  as  it  is  still  latent  for  all  subjects 
who  are  not  in  a  state  of  receptivity  at  the  exact  time 
when  the  thought  is  emitted. 

We  shall  find  similar  cases  in  the  phenomena  of 
typtology. 


CHAPTER  XI 
CKYSTAL-GAZING 

General  Study  and  Experiments 

Crystal-gazing  is  an  experimental  procedure  which  pro- 
duces a  number  of  interesting  phenomena,  among  which 
we  may,  perhaps,  include  manifestations  of  the  faculty  of 
lucidity. 

The  same  might  be  said  of  audition  in  the  shell,  or 
clairaudience,  an  experience  which  only  differs  from  the 
former  because  it  brings  the  sense  of  hearing  into  play 
instead  of  the  sense  of  sight. 

Crystal-gazing  is  a  very  common  practice,  particularly 
in  England ;  it  is,  moreover,  as  we  shall  see,  very  easy  to 
accomplish. 

The  experiment  consists  principally  in  placing  a  mirror 
or  glass  ball,  more  or  less  brilliant,  in  front  of  the  subject, 
who  gazes  attentively  at  it  and  distinguishes,  after  a  time, 
more  or  less  definite  pictures. 

Nature  of  the  Object  or  Mirror  employed 

The  practice  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and  is  met  with  in 
all  countries;  the  objects  employed  have  therefore  been 
very  varied. 

At  first,  mirrors  of  every  kind,  particularly  metallic, 
were  employed ;  these  mirrors  were  either  concave  or 
convex — sometimes  spherical. 

Sometimes  any  hollow  vessel  is  used,  into  which  liquid 
is  poured,  which  then  serves  as  the  reflecting  surface. 
Most  frequently,  a  glass  or  bottle  filled  with  water  is  used. 

In  some  countries,  especially  in  England,  crystal  balls, 
perfectly  spherical,  are  specially  manufactured   for   this 

16C 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  157 

purpose,  which  have  given  to  this  experiment  the  name 
of  "  Crystal-gazing." 

For  the  crystal  ball  may  be  substituted  an  empty  glass 
globe,  which  is  filled  with  pure  water  and  inverted,  so  as 
to  present  a  spherical  surface  to  the  gazer. 

I  generally  use  the  crystal  ball ;  but,  for  special  occa- 
sions, when  I  wish  to  secure  particular  results  with  certain 
subjects,  I  use  a  mirror  consisting  of  a  glass  plate,  covered 
on  the  under  surface  with  a  black  or  white  coating, 
according  to  circumstances. 

We  shall  see,  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  method 
of  experimenting,  the  position  in  which  the  subject  should 
be  placed. 

If  the  experiment  is  to  give  any  result,  he  will  first 
see  the  mirror  assume  a  different  tinge.  It  then  seems  to 
become  turbid,  forming  red  or  blue  clouds,  which  whirl 
like  smoke,  and,  finally,  pictures  are  formed. 


Forination  of  Pictures 

The  pictures  are  sometimes  of  a  uniform  tone,  similar 
to  a  photograph ;  at  other  times  they  are  coloured,  and 
present  the  natural  tints. 

Some  pictures  are  fixed  and  motionless,  like  a  painting ; 
others  are  constantly  changing,  and  show  the  persons 
animated,  as  in  a  cinematograph. 

The  first  pictures  are  often  simple — a  portrait,  bust, 
plant,  animal,  or  house.  Then  they  become  most  com- 
plicated— a  complete  moving  scene,  as  in  a  theatre;  a 
room,  a  street,  a  public  thoroughfare  filled  with  various 
people,  who  walk  about,  come  in  and  go  out,  just  as  in 
real  life. 

The  subject  thinks  that  he  is  present  at  the  scene  as 
a  spectator,  and  so  makes  remarks  and  observations ;  but, 
in  other  cases,  he  thinks  he  is  living  in  the  midst  of  the 
scene  which  unfolds  itself  before  him,  and  the  illusion  is 
so  strong  that  he  makes  gestures,  holds  out  his  hands  to 
greet  something  which  he  sees,  replies  to  the  persons  who 
appear  to  be  present,  &c. 


158  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


Nature  of  the  Pictures 

The  subject  may  see  : — 

1.  An  object  which  has  lately  attracted  his  attention. 

2.  A  scene  relative  to  something  which  has  just  occu- 
pied his  thoughts. 

3.  The  representation  of  an  unconscious  memory. 

4.  Pictures  of  which  he  had  been  conscious  but  had 
forgotten,  and  which  only  exist  in  his  sub-conscious 
memory. 

5.  Purely  fancy  pictures,  which  correspond  to  nothing 
real. 

6.  Pictures  of  Avhich  he  was  never  conscious,  but  which 
exist  in  his  sub-consciousness. 

7.  Visions  verbally  suggested  in  a  previous  hypnotic 
condition. 

8.  Visions  suggested  verbally  by  those  around,  whether 
he  is  conscious  of  it  or  not,  at  the  moment  of  the  experi- 
ment and  in  the  auto-hypnotic  condition  in  which  he  has 
placed  himself. 

9.  Visions  due  to  a  conscious  transmission  of  thought 
from  some  one  present. 

10.  Visions  due  to  an  unconscious  transmission  of 
thought  from  some  one  present. 

11.  Visions  due  to  a  conscious  telepathic  influence  from 
an  absent  person. 

12.  Visions  due  to  an  unconscious  telepathic  influence 
from  an  absent  person. 

13.  Visions  of  something  at  a  distance,  unknown  to  the 
subject,  but  known  to  some  one  present :  that  is  conscious 
or  unconscious  thought-reading. 

14.  Visions  of  something  happening  at  a  distance,  un- 
known to  the  subject  and  every  one  else  present:  this  is 
a  phenomenon  of  lucidity. 

15.  Visions  of  something  in  the  past,  unknown  to  the 
subject,  but  known  to  some  one  present. 

IG.  Visions  of  something  in  the  past,  unknown  to  the 
subject  and  every  one  else  present. 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  159 

17.  Visions  of  something  in  the  future,  which  may  be 
foreseen  by  the  subject. 

18.  Visions  of  something  in  the  future,  which  cannot 
be  foreseen  by  the  subject,  but  can  be  foreseen  by  some 
one  present. 

19.  Visions  of  something  in  the  future,  which  cannot 
be  foreseen,  either  by  the  subject  or  any  one  present. 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  in  a  certain  number  of  cases 
which  we  shall  quote,  several  methods  of  perception  often 
appear  successively  or  are  combined.  Thus,  it  is  not  un- 
common for  the  subject  to  perceive  first  of  all  pictures 
due  to  unconscious  memories  or  to  his  imagination,  and, 
afterwards,  things  coming  from  mental  communications. 

In  cases  in  which  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity  makes 
its  appearance,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  subject  to  be 
placed  on  the  track  by  perception  of  the  thoughts  of  some 
one  present. 

From  the  numerous  experiments  in  crystal-gazing 
which  have  been  made  in  England  by  Miss  Angus  and 
published  in  the  Annales  des  Sciences  Psycliiques,  we 
extract  the  following,  which  will  give  a  fairly  complete 
idea  of  these  experiments. 

Miss  Angus'  Experiments 

1.  A  lady  one  day  asked  me  to  see  a  friend  of  whom 
she  was  thinking.  Almost  immediately,  I  called  out : 
"  Here  is  an  old,  old  lady,  who  looks  at  me  with  a  trium- 
phant smile  on  her  face.  She  has  a  prominent  nose  and 
a  nut-cracker  chin.  Her  face  is  quite  wrinkled,  especially 
about  the  eyes,  as  if  she  was  always  smiling.  She  wears 
a  small  white  shawl  with  a  black  border.  But  she  cannot 
be  old,  as  her  hair  is  quite  brown !  However,  her  face 
looks  as  though  it  were  very  old."  The  picture  then 
disappeared,  and  the  lady  said  I  had  given  a  perfect 
description  of  her  friend's  mother  instead  of  the  friend, 
and  that  it  was  a  joke  in  the  family  that  the  mother  must 
dye  her  hair  to  have  it  so  brown,  and  that  she  was  eighty- 
two  years  of  age.     This  lady  asked  me  if  the  vision  was 


IGO  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

clear  enough  to  enable  me  to  recognise  a  resemblance 
to  her  son's  photograph.  The  following  day  she  placed 
several  photographs  in  front  of  me,  and,  in  a  moment, 
without  the  slightest  hesitation,  I  pointed  out  one 
which  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  my  vision. 

2.  One  afternoon  I  was  with  a  young  lady  whom  I 
had  never  seen  or  heard  spoken  of  before.  She  asked 
me  if  she  could  look  in  my  crystal ;  when  she  was  doing 
so  it  occurred  to  me  to  glance  over  her  shoulder,  and 
I  saw  a  boat  tossing  about  in  a  very  rough  sea,  although 
land  was  still  in  sight.  Everything  vanished,  and,  sud- 
denly, a  small  house  appeared  with  five  or  six  steps  (I 
forget  the  number  which  I  then  counted)  leading  up  to 
the  door.  An  old  man  was  sitting  on  the  second  step 
reading  a  newspaper.  In  front  of  the  house  there  was 
an  open  field  covered  with  thick  tufts  of  grass,  in  which 
some  lambs,  or  rather  some  very  small  sheep,  were 
grazing. 

When  the  second  scene  had  disappeared,  the  young  lady 
told  me  that  I  had  given  a  very  clear  description  of  the 
place  in  the  Shetland  Isles  where  she  and  her  mother 
were  about  to  spend  a  few  weeks. 

3.  At  a  recent  experiment  in  crystal-gazing  I  suc- 
ceeded, for  the  first  time,  in  making  another  person  see 
what  I  saw  in  the  crystal.  Miss  Rose  came  to  see  me  one 
afternoon,  and  asked  ine  to  look  in  the  crystal  for  her. 
I  did  so,  and  immediately  called  out :  "  Oh !  there  is  a 
bed  with  a  man  lying  in  it,  who  seems  to  be  very  ill 
(I  saw  that  he  was  dead,  but  restrained  myself  from  saying 
so),  and  here  is  a  woman  in  black  who  stays  beside  the 
bed."  I  did  not  recognise  the  man  as  being  any  one  whom 
I  knew,  and  told  her  to  look  for  herself.  Almost  immedi- 
ately she  cried  out :  "  Oh  !  I  see  the  bed  too !  But,  oh  ! 
take  it  back,  the  man  is  dead  ! "  She  had  received  a  great 
shock,  and  said  that  she  would  never  look  in  it  again. 
Soon,  however,  her  curiosity  made  her  look  once  more, 
and  then  the  scene  again  appeared,  and  very  slowly  from 
a  cloudy  object  at  the  side  of  the  bed  the  lady  in  black 
emerged  very  distinctly.     She  then  described  some  per- 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  161 

sons  who  were  in  the  room,  and  said  that  they  were 
carrying  away  something  which  was  completely  draped 
in  black.  When  she  had  seen  that  she  pushed  away 
the  crystal  and  refused  to  look  at  it  again.  She  returned 
on  Sunday  (this  happened  on  Friday)  with  her  cousin, 
and  we  teased  her  about  her  fear  of  the  crystal,  so  that 
she  said  she  would  look  in  it  once  more.  She  took  the 
crystal,  but  immediately  threw  it  aside,  saying,  "  No, 
I  will  not  look  at  it,  because  the  bed  with  that  fearful 
man  is  still  in  it." 

On  their  return  home,  they  learned  that  the  cousin's 
father-m-law  had  died  that  afternoon ;  but  to  prove  that 
he  had  not  been  in  our  thoughts,  although  we  all  knew 
that  he  was  not  well,  no  one  had  suggested  that  it  was 
he :  his  name  had  not  been  mentioned  in  connection  with 
this  vision. 

4.  A  short  time  after  I  had  become  the  happy  owner 
of  a  crystal,  I  undertook  to  convert  certain  very  hardened 
sceptics,  and  I  will  briefly  relate  my  experiments  with  two 
or  three  of  them. 

One  was  a  Mr.  B.,  who  was  so  thorovighly  determined 
to  catch  me  at  fault  that  he  gave  out  that  he  was  thinking 
of  a  friend  whom  it  would  not  be  possible  for  me  to 
describe. 

I  had  only  met  Mr.  B.  the  previous  day,  and  I  knew 
nothing,  so  to  speak,  concerning  him  or  his  personal 
friends. 

I  took  the  crystal,  which  was  immediately  covered 
with  a  fog,  out  of  which  a  group  of  persons  gradually 
emerged,  but  too  indistinctly  to  enable  me  to  recognise 
any  one,  until  suddenly  a  man  came  up  at  a  gallop.  I 
remember  that  I  said :  "  I  cannot  explain  what  he  is  like, 
but  he  is  clothed  in  a  very  singular  manner,  with  some- 
thing so  bright  that  the  sun  which  is  shining  on  him 
dazzles  me  completely,  and  I  cannot  describe  him ! " 
Then,  as  he  came  nearer,  I  called  out:  "But  he  is  a 
soldier  in  glittering  armour ;  only  he  is  not  an  officer — 
he  is  only  a  soldier."  Two  friends  who  were  in  the  room 
said  that  Mr.  B.'s  emotion  was  intense,  and  my  attention 

L 


162  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

was  diverted  from  the  crystal  when  I  heard  him  say:  "It 
is  astonishing :  it  is  perfectly  true !  I  was  thinking  of  a 
boy,  the  son  of  a  crofter,  in  whom  I  am  particularly 
interested,  and  who  is  a  soldier  in  London,  which  will 
explain  the  group  of  persons  around  him  in  the  street ! " 

5.  Another  case  was  more  interesting,  because  I  entered 
m  some  way  or  another  into  the  thoughts  of  a  lady,  whdst 
another  lady  did  her  best  to  influence  me. 

Miss  D,,  one  of  my  friends  at  Brighton,  had  a  singular 
magnetic  power,  and  thought  she  was  absolutely  sure  of 
success  with  me  and  the  crystal. 

Another  lady,  Miss  H.,  who  was  present,  laughed  at 
all  this,  particularly  when  Miss  D.  insisted  on  holding 
my  hand  with  one  of  hers  and  placing  her  other  hand 
on  my  forehead !  Miss  H.,  with  a  disdainful  air,  took 
a  book,  and,  going  to  the  other  end  of  the  room,  left 
us  to  our  folly. 

I  very  quickly  felt  myself  becoming  excited,  a  thing 
which  had  never  occurred  before  when  I  looked  in  the 
crystal.  I  saw  a  group  of  people,  and  I  felt  a  sort  of 
strange  impression  that  I  was  among  them,  and  we 
seemed  to  be  waiting  for  something.  Presently  a  young 
horseman  passed,  in  racing  costume ;  his  horse  went  by 
at  a  canter,  and  he  smiled  and  nodded  to  those  whom 
he  knew  in  the  group,  and  we  then  lost  sight  of  him. 

In  a  moment  we  all  seemed  to  feel  that  something 
had  happened,  and  I  became  very  anxious  to  see  some- 
thing that  was  just  beyond  the  range  of  my  vision. 
Soon,  however,  two  or  three  men  approached  and  carried 
him  past  me,  and  again  I  experienced  an  intense  anxiety 
to  know  whether  he  was  only  dangerously  wounded  or 
if  he  had  really  lost  his  life.  All  this  happened  in  a 
few  moments,  but  these  were  long  enough  to  leave  me 
in  such  agitation  that  I  could  not  realise  it  was  only  a 
crystal  vision. 

During  this  time  Miss  H.  had  put  her  book  on  one 
side  and  came  to  us  quite  impressed.  She  told  me  that 
I  had  given  a  perfect  description  of  a  scene  at  some  races 
in  Scotland,  at  which  she  had  been  present  a  week  or 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  163 

two  previously — a  scene  whicla  had  many  times  been 
in  her  thoughts,  but  of  which  she  had  never  told  me, 
since  we  were  strangers  to  each  other.  She  also  told  me 
that  I  had  exactly  described  her  own  feelings  at  that  time, 
and  that  I  had  reproduced  it  all  with  the  utmost  clear- 
ness. 

The  other  lady  was  rather  disappointed  that,  after 
having  so  strongly  concentrated  her  thoughts,  I  should 
be  influenced,  not  by  her,  but  by  another  person  who 
had  laughed  at  the  whole  affair. 

This  anecdote  was  related  to  me,  a  few  days  after  it 
happened,  by  Miss  Angus.  Her  version  was  that  she 
saw  a  gentleman  rider  going  to  the  post  and  nodding  to 
his  friends.  Then  she  saw  him  carried  on  a  stretcher 
through  the  group.  She  seemed,  she  said,  to  be  actually 
present,  and  to  feel,  in  some  way,  agitated.  The  fact 
of  the  accident  was  eventually  told  me  in  Scotland  by 
another  lady,  a  stranger  to  all  these  persons. 


CHAPTER  XII 
CRYSTAL-GAZING    (continued) 

Experiments  of  La  Societe  Universelle  d'Mudes 
Psychiques 

La  Societe  Universelle  d'Mudes  Psychiques  has  in- 
terested itself  in  these  experiments  and  commissioned 
a  certain  number  of  sectional  groups  to  pursue  the 
study.  We  will  give  an  account  of  some  of  their  experi- 
ments. 

One  of  the  Society's  groups  met  one  Sunday  afternoon 
for  the  purpose  of  conducting  some  experiments.  The 
group  consisted  of  Dr.  Joire,  M.  Douchez,  M.  Leroy, 
Mile.  J.,  Mile.  D. 

Mile.  D.  had  never  been  hypnotised  and  had  never 
been  present  at  any  experiment  of  this  character,  but  was 
willing  to  serve  as  the  subject.  I  put  her  into  a  light 
sleep — the  first  degree  of  somnambulism.  I  then 
awakened  her,  and  we  agreed  to  try  an  experiment  in 
crystal-gazing. 

Mile.  D.  was  then  placed  with  her  back  to  the 
window,  with  the  crystal  ball  in  front  of  her  on  a  table 
covered  with  a  black  cloth. 

Thinking  to  induce  at  the  outset  a  simple  hallucinatory 
vision,  I  said  to  her :  "  You  will  see  in  the  crystal  the 
picture  (I  said  '  portrait ')  of  Mr.  D." 

I  then  told  her  to  describe  exactly  to  us  what  she 
saw  and  we  would  leave  her  to  speak. 

The  picture  became  clearer  by  degrees.  Mile.  D. 
told  us  she  could  see  a  very  small  photograph  surrounded 
by  a  circle  of  gold ;  it  was  a  lady's  brooch.     The  photo- 

164 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  165 

graph  was  that  of  Mr.  D.  The  subject  very  clearly 
distinguished  this  jewel  in  a  white  box;  there  was  some- 
thing under  the  brooch  which  she  could  not  clearly  dis- 
tinguish; this  small  box  was  enclosed  in  a  larger  box, 
where  there  were  four  gilt  pins  with  real  pearl  heads. 
Close  by,  she  described  a  case  for  correspondence  cards, 
all  on  a  shelf  of  a  hanging  wall-cupboard.  (Then  followed 
a  description  of  the  character  and  the  situation  of  the 
furniture  in  the  room.) 

Those  are  the  details  which  Mile.  D.  gave  us  of  the 
very;  clear  picture  which  she  saw  in  the  crystal.  The 
hallucination  lasted  about  twenty  minutes. 

Mr.  D.  was  the  only  person  present  who  knew  of  the 
existence  of  the  brooch  and  the  room  described ;  but 
he  did  not  know  the  situation  of  the  brooch  and  the 
objects  around  it. 

On  the  following  day  he  went  to  the  house  of  the 
owner  of  the  brooch,  who  lived  in  a  town  about  thirty- 
seven  miles  distant,  to  ascertain  how  much  of  the 
vision  was  real.  The  following  are  the  results  of  his 
inquiry : — 

The  brooch  was  really  in  a  cardboard  box  on  the 
shelf  of  a  cupboard,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  box  was 
some  pink  cotton-wool  (which  the  subject  could  not  dis- 
tinguish). The  box  containing  the  brooch  was  placed 
in  a  larger  box  containing  the  four  gilt  pins  with  white 
pearl  heads.  Also,  on  the  same  shelf,  he  found  the  box 
of  correspondence  cards.  But  the  description  of  the 
furniture,  which  came  at  the  end,  was  not  quite  correct. 
I  do  not  regard  this  case  as  sufficient  to  constitute  a  case 
of  lucidity,  the  experiment  having  been  an  impromptu 
one,  and  the  conditions  not  having  been  prepared  in 
advance.  Nevertheless,  I  give  it  as  an  interesting 
example  of  crystal-gazing,  and  especially  to  induce 
investigators  to  take  up  these  experiments,  so  easy 
to  try,  and  which  may  sometimes  give  results  worthy  of 
attention. 


166  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Socii^TE  Universelle  d' Etudes  Psychiques,  Lille 
Section 

Report    of  Experhnents   given    at    the  Annual  General 
Meeting  by  Dr.  Joire,  President  of  the  Society 

A  celebrated  physician  once  said,  "  There  are  no  dis- 
eases ;  there  are  only  sick  people."  This  statement,  always 
true,  has  been  many  times  repeated  by  those  who  have 
had  medical  experience  other  than  in  theory  or  in  the 
laboratories.  This  fundamental  truth  in  medicine  could, 
perhaps,  be  profitably  transported  to  the  domain  of 
psychical  studies.  That  is  to  say,  we  should  not  seek  to 
reproduce,  at  hazard,  and  with  any  chance  subject,  the 
phenomena  which  we  desire  to  observe.  But  there  are 
mediums  who  ought  to  be  studied — that  is  to  say,  we 
ought  to  take  them  as  they  present  themselves,  each  with 
his  own  peculiar  powers,  and  observe  through  them  the 
phenomena  they  are  able  to  produce.  That  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  scientific  method  which  we  ought  to  apply  to 
the  study  of  psychical  phenomena,  any  other  order  of 
procedure  being  irrational  and  anti-scientific. 

In  this  way  we  shall  some  day  be  able,  when  we  hear 
of  a  medium  presenting  externalisation  of  force,  to  show 
M.  Gustav  le  Bon  the  phenomenon  of  levitation,  for  which 
he  has  promised  a  rcAvard  to  the  subject;  but  not,  of 
course,  as  he  seemed  to  suppose,  by  establishing  a  kind  of 
competition  between  all  mediums  taken  at  random,  which 
would  be  a  scientific  absurdity. 

These  experiments  which  I  now  describe  belong  to 
the  domain  of  lucidity  and  premonition.  They  present 
this  peculiar  characteristic,  that  in  their  production  I  have 
employed  the  phenomenon  of  clairvoyance  combined  Avith 
that  of  clairaudience. 

These  experiments  were  made  with  a  medium  whom  we 
discovered  through  some  interesting  phenomena  which  she 
had  given  elsewhere,  and  of  Avhich  we  had  received  details. 

Prima  Nitija  is  a  medium  who,  in  regard  to  the 
phenomena    obtained     through     her,    excels    all    other 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  167 

mediums  hitherto  known.  She  is,  in  fact,  able  to  produce 
experiments  which  can  be  submitted  to  scientific  control, 
which  is  not  usually  the  case  with  other  mediums  when 
left  to  themselves. 

First  of  all,  some  spontaneous  phenomena  put  me  on 
the  track  of  this  subject's  special  faculty.  One  of  them  is 
of  sufficient  interest  to  be  quoted. 

One  day  Nitija,  while  at  my  house,  in  a  condition  of 
deep  somnambulism,  began  to  speak,  and  the  following 
conversation  took  place  between  us : — 

"  Oh,  how  tired  I  am,"  said  Prima. 

"  What  has  made  you  tired  ?     What  have  you  done  ? " 

"The  long  walk  which  I  have  just  taken  has  tired 
me." 

"  Where  have  you  come  from  ?  Where  have  you 
been  ? " 

"  I  came  from  R,  and  that  is  a  long  way ;  my  legs  ache. 
I  am  very  tired." 

Now  R.,  mentioned  by  the  subject,  is  a  neighbouring 
town  about  seven  miles  away.  I  knew  very  well  that  she 
had  not  been  there,  either  on  that  day  or  on  the  previous 
one ;  there  had  been  no  question  of  such  a  journey,  because 
she  never  went  there ;  that  morning  she  had  only  been  on 
some  errands  in  the  town. 

Shortly  afterwards,  without  attaching  any  importance 
to  her  words,  I  awoke  Prima.  I  noticed  that  she  still 
showed  signs  of  fatigue,  and,  without  having  any  recollec- 
tion of  the  conversation  which  had  taken  place  while  she 
was  asleep,  she  said  to  me  again : 

"  I  do  not  know  why,  but  I  am  fearfully  tired — one 
would  think  I  had  walked  all  day  long." 

"  It  is  nothing,"  I  said  to  her.  "  You  went  on  several 
errands  this  morning,  that  has  made  you  tired,  but  it  will 
soon  pass  away." 

The  following  day  I  again  met  Prima,  who  greeted  me 
with  the  words : 

"  Yesterday,  when  I  was  with  you,  I  missed  a  visit  from 
an  uncle  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  a  very  long  time,  and 
who  came  to  see  me  just  at  the  time  I  was  with  you." 


168  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  Ah  !  what  did  he  come  to  see  you  for  ?  " 

"  He  came  to  ask  me  if  I  would  go  to  the  fair  at  R. 
with  him." 

Had  Prima  Nitija,  then,  had,  during  her  somnam- 
bulistic sleep,  knowledge  of  what  what  was  happening  at 
the  time  at  her  house,  and  had  this  suggested  her 
dream  ? 

Put  on  the  track  by  this  observation,  I  endeavoured  to 
try  the  powers  of  my  subject  by  means  of  the  crystal.  I 
therefore  one  day  made  her  sit  down  in  front  of  the 
crystal,  and  requested  her  to  tell  me  exactly  what  she  saw. 

After  a  very  short  time  she  told  me  that  she  could  see 
a  room  which  she  described  in  detail. 

In  this  room  she  saw  a  lady  in  walking  costume,  with 
her  hat  on,  ready  to  go  out. 

In  the  same  room  was  a  gentleman,  with  his  hat  in  his 
hand,  apparently  waiting  for  the  lady. 

The  medium  recognised  this  lady  as  Mme.  X.,  and, 
by  the  description  which  she  gave,  there  was  no  possible 
doubt.  "  But,"  said  Prima,  "  this  lady  seems  to  be  very 
much  put  out ;  she  has  lost  something  which  she  has  been 
looking  for  everywhere,  and  she  cannot  start  until  she  has 
found  it." 

She  saw  her  open  a  cupboard  and  look  on  all  the 
shelves  and  feel  with  her  hand  on  the  top  shelf. 

She  seemed  satisfied,  for  she  had  found  what  she 
wanted — a  key  which  she  held  for  a  moment  and  then  put 
in  her  pocket. 

She  closed  the  cupboard,  and  then  started  to  go  out. 

Mme.  X.,  mterrogated  on  the  following  day,  was  greatly 
surprised  when  she  was  told  of  her  search  for  the  key. 
She  admitted  the  accuracy  of  all  the  details  given  above, 
but  she  was  angry  at  the  mention  of  the  person  who  was 
with  her,  and  asked  why  she  had  thus  been  spied  upon. 

In  another  experiment  I  again  placed  the  subject 
before  the  crystal,  and  indicating  a  member  of  the  Society 
who  was  present,  I  said  to  her :  "  You  will  see  Mr.  X.  in 
the  crystal,  and  find  out  where  he  has  been  this  morning." 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  169 

After  a  few  moments  Prima  described  a  room  with  bare 
walls,  and  furnished  only  with  some  chairs  and  a  table, 
covered  with  books  and  papers. 

She  recognised  Mr.  X.  in  the  room,  standing  talking 
with  two  other  people.  One  of  them  went  up  to  the 
table,  took  some  of  the  papers,  looked  at  them,  and 
returned  to  the  two  others. 

All  three  talked  with  animation,  she  said ;  they  gesti- 
culated, showed  each  other  the  papers  they  held  in  their 
hands,  and  apparently  they  were  not  in  agreement. 

One  of  the  three  had  his  back  constantly  turned  to 
her ;  he  was  rather  stout.  "  But,"  remarked  Prima,  "  there 
seems  to  be  something  strange  which  makes  his  neck  large, 
perhaps  a  big  cravat  which  makes  his  neck  look  thick." 

Mr.  X.  then  told  us  that  that  morning  he  had  kept  an 
appointment  with  two  other  people,  in  an  office  answering 
to  the  description  given  by  Prima.  There  had  been  an 
animated  discussion  over  a  matter  which  had  not  been 
settled. 

He  explained  that  the  third  person,  whose  back  only 
the  subject  had  seen,  was  a  man  who  wore  an  English  cap, 
placed  far  back  on  his  head,  and  coming  down  almost  to 
his  neck,  and  this,  in  fact,  seen  from  the  back,  would  give 
the  impression  that  he  had  a  very  thick  neck. 

This  last  feature  is  noticeable ;  the  subject  saw  some- 
thing which  she  could  not  understand. 

She  did  not  describe  an  object  seen  in  imagination, 
but  proved  to  us  by  the  description  given  that  she  did  not 
know  what  it  was  that  she  saw.  She  described  to  us  the 
object  which  she  perceived,  but  the  witness  alone  recog- 
nised what  it  was,  and  he  had  to  explain  it  to  us  in  order 
to  show  that  the  description  was  really  correct. 

In  another  experiment  I  tried  to  combine  clairaudience 
with  clairvoyance,  I  gave  Prima  Nitija  a  tin  box,  telling 
her  to  hold  it  to  her  ear,  and  that  she  would  hear,  as  at 
a  telephone,  the  voices  of  the  people  she  would  see  in  the 
crystal. 

Before  commencing  the  experiment  I  put  her  to  sleep. 


170  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

and  gave  her  the  suggestion  that  she  would  see  in  the 
crystal  something  which  she  would  do  on  the  following 
Sunday,  it  being  then  Friday. 

When  Prima  was  awakened,  I  placed  the  crystal  before 
her  and,  at  the  same  time,  gave  her  the  box  through 
which  to  listen.  She  heard  at  first  vague  and  confused 
noises,  as  at  the  telephone,  in  which  she  could  distinguish 
nothing.  She  then  repeated  various  phrases  which  she 
heard  distinctly : 

"  Tell  him  that  you  would  like  to  travel." 

A  man's  voice :  "  You  ought  to  go ;  you  need  a 
change." 

"  Why  do  you  not  come  ? " 

Some  women's  voices,  talking  to  each  other,  prevented 
her  from  hearing. 

A  woman's  voice :  "  What  a  pretty  house  !  Where  is 
your  eldest  son  ? " 

At  this  moment  she  was  unable  to  hear  anything  more, 
but  she  described  a  picture  which  appeared  in  the  crystal. 

She  saw  at  first  a  house  with  a  porte-cochere.  She 
looked  through  a  hall,  with  a  door  on  the  right  by  which 
she  entered  a  room  which  she  described. 

She  stated,  between  times,  that  she  did  not  recognise  this 
house.     The  room  which  she  now  saw  was  a  dining-room. 

She  saw  a  sideboard,  various  ornaments  on  the  mantel- 
piece, and,  in  the  chimney-corner,  suspended  against  the 
wall,  was  a  "tear-oif"  calendar. 

Before  going  farther  into  the  description  of  the  room, 
wishing  to  assure  myself  whether  the  suggestion  I  had 
made  to  her  was  taking  effect,  I  insisted  that  she  should 
look  and  toll  me  the  date  on  the  calendar. 

She  at  once  read  the  figure  17.  I  asked  her  to  read 
the  day  of  the  week.  She  looked  carefully  and  finally 
read :  Sunday.  I  at  once  ascertained  that  the  following 
Sunday  Avould,  in  fact,  be  the  17th. 

I  permitted  her  to  continue  her  description  of  what 
was  in  the  room. 

A  round  table,  around  which  she  could  distinguish,  on 
one  side,  two,  and,  on  the  other,  three  people. 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  171 

In  the  corner,  to  the  right  of  the  entrance  door,  Prima 
saw  an  object  placed  on  the  ground.  She  could  not  well 
distinguish  this  object,  but  described  it  as  being  cylindrical 
in  shape  with  longitudinal  stripes;  it  had  the  form  and 
appearance  of  a  drum,  she  said. 

The  table  was  laid,  and  coffee  was  being  taken. 

One  of  the  persons  seated  at  the  table  she  recognised 
as  a  relative  of  her  own,  whom  she  had  not  seen  for  more 
than  a  year ;  facing  her  was  his  wife,  two  of  their  children, 
and  one  other  person. 

Finally,  she  saw  a  person  coming  into  the  room,  and 
recognised  herself.  Several  persons  rose  from  the  table, 
but  the  man  remained  seated;  Prima  approached  him, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  she  heard  the  following  dialogue : 

"  Well,  this  is  good  news  !    You  are  no  longer  ill ! " 

"  I  have  never  been." 

"  But  we  were  told  so." 

"  Not  at  all." 

Various  noises  then  prevented  her  hearing. 

Then,  again,  she  caught  different  phrases  of  a  dialogue, 
in  which  she  could  not  well  understand  what  was  said  by 
the  man's  voice. 

"  Why  do  you  stop  there  ? " 

"  You  are  not  happy." 

"  If  you  will  listen  to  me,  you  will  be  happy." 

At  this  moment  several  people  went  out ;  there  only 
remained  her  relative,  his  wife,  and  Prima. 

The  man  said  again :  "  What  are  you  in  Avant  of  ? " 

"  Nothing  much,"  replied  Prima. 

A  confused  discussion  ensued,  after  which  this  final 
phrase  was  pronounced  by  a  man's  voice : 

"  Would  you  like  to  take  a  journey  with  me  ?" 

Prima  was  herself  greatly  puzzled  at  the  result  of  this 
experiment,  because  she  had  not  for  a  long  time  seen  the 
relative  whom  she  recognised  in  the  crystal;  she  knew 
that  he  had  since  changed  his  residence,  and  she  won- 
dered whether  she  would  find  his  new  house,  which  was 
unknown  to  her,  like  the  picture  shown  to  her  in  the 
crystal. 


172  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

On  the  Monday  she  told  me  of  the  visit  which  she  had 
made  on  the  Sunday. 

I  note,  in  passing,  that  the  subject  seemed  to  have 
completely  forgotten  the  phrases  which  she  had  heard, 
and  which  I  carefully  noted  down  at  the  time  of  the 
experiment.  So  that,  though  she  described  very  well  all 
that  she  had  seen,  I  had  to  interrogate  her  closely  in  order 
to  make  her  repeat  the  conversation. 

She  was,  first  of  all,  struck  by  the  exterior  aspect  of 
the  house,  as  being  exactly  like  the  vision  in  the  crystal. 
The  principal  door,  the  hall,  the  door  of  the  apartment  on 
the  right  were  just  the  same. 

She  herself,  on  entering,  said :  "  What  a  pretty 
house ! " 

The  interior  arrangement  of  the  room  was  also  exactly 
as  she  had  described  it  to  me :  the  sideboard,  the  mantel- 
piece with  its  ornaments,  the  calendar,  the  table,  and  in 
the  corner,  to  the  right  of  the  door,  not  a  drum,  but  one  of 
those  small  Moorish  stools,  which  in  the  shadow,  with  its 
carved  sides,  would  have  a  cylindrical  appearance,  and 
show  longitudinal  lines  which  would  give  it  a  strong 
resemblance  to  a  drum. 

Here  again,  as  in  the  previous  experiment,  we  can 
ascertain  that  it  was  not  the  thought  of  the  object  which 
presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  the  subject  and  caused  her 
to  create  the  picture  she  described.  But  she  seems  to  have 
originally  seen  a  picture  which  she  did  not  recognise,  and 
her  description  of  it,  even  in  its  inaccurate  particulars, 
showed  that  it  did  not  arouse  in  the  subject's  mind  the 
thought  of  the  real  object. 

In  these  particular  instances,  therefore,  the  picture  seen 
in  the  crystal  did  not  arise  either  from  a  sub-conscious 
recollection  or  from  a  thought,  more  or  less  conscious, 
which  gave  rise  to  an  hallucination. 

The  people  at  the  table  were  really  just  as  they  had 
been  seen. 

Her  relative  was  dozing,  and  did  not  at  first  rise  with 
the  others  to  receive  his  visitor. 

The  conversation  turned  at  first  on  the  health  of  the 


CRYSTAL-GAZING  173 

visitor,  and  the  phrases  I  have  recorded  were  repeated 
word  for  word. 

Not  seeing  the  eldest  child  with  the  others,  Prima 
herself  asked :  "  Where  is  your  eldest  child  ? " 

Then  the  man  asked  Prima  if  she  was  happy  where  she 
was,  and  while  they  were  thus  talking  the  other  people 
rose  from  the  table. 

Just  here  a  remarkable  incident  took  place.  A  parrot, 
of  whose  existence  Prima  was  ignorant,  chattered  and 
screeched  and  made  such  a  deafening  noise  as  to  drown 
the  voices  of  the  talkers.  It  was  this  noise,  indistinctly 
heard,  which  she  had  first  compared  with  children  crying 
and  then  with  women  quarrelling. 

Finally,  her  relative  asked  Prima  if,  by  way  of  relaxa- 
tion, she  would  not  like  to  accompany  him  on  a  journey 
he  was  going  to  take. 

All  that  had  been  seen  and  heard  by  the  subject  on 
the  Friday  was  realised  exactly  on  the  Sunday. 

I  should  add  that  although  the  visit  to  this  relative, 
whom  she  had  not  seen  for  about  a  year,  might  have  been 
in  the  subject's  mind  at  the  time  of  the  experiment,  the 
details  which  she  gave  were  quite  unexpected,  and  could 
not  be  a  sub-conscious  recollection.  In  fact,  she  had  never 
before  been  in  that  house. 

All  these  facts  were  ultimately  checked  and  verified  by 
strict  inquiry,  which  enabled  us  to  testify  that  Prima  had 
neither  dreamed  nor  imagined,  nor  could  she  have  known 
beforehand  the  events  she  saw  in  the  crystal  on  the  Friday, 
which  were  recorded  at  the  time,  and  which  came  to  pass 
on  the  following  Sunday  with  the  utmost  precision. 

I  must  also  draw  attention  to  the  singular  character  of 
the  mental  audition.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  account  of 
the  experiment  and  the  real  experience,  the  phrases  were 
heard  without  order  or  coherence,  but  all  of  them  Avere 
repeated  in  the  course  of  the  conversation,  and  fitted 
naturally  into  their  places. 

We  may  therefore  say,  with  regard  to  this  mental 
audition,  what  I  have  said  concerning  certain  of  the 
pictures  seen  in  the  crystal. 


174  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

It  was  not  an  original  idea  of  the  subject's  own  which 
created  an  halKicination  and  caused  her  to  follow  an 
imaginary  conversation  relating  to  the  preconceived  idea. 
On  the  contrary,  the  subject,  in  some  way  or  other,  per- 
ceived some  phrases  and  snatches  of  conversation  which 
she  repeated,  but  without  understandmg  their  sense,  and 
they  were  so  incomplete  that  they  had  no  intelligible  sig- 
nification. For  all  that,  however,  they  were  finally  found 
to  adapt  themselves  exactly  and  naturally  to  the  reality. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

MENTAL  AUDITION 

Under  the  name  of  mental  audition,  clairaudience,  or 
hearing  in  the  shell,  we  describe  some  experiments  which, 
considered  as  psychical  phenomena,  are  exactly  of  the 
same  character  as  crystal-gazing.  The  only  difference  is 
that  they  bring  the  sense  of  hearing  into  play  instead  of 
the  sense  of  sight. 

The  subject  generally  makes  use  of  a  sea-shell,  in  which 
is  heard  the  murmur  of  aerial  waves,  which  circulate  in 
the  interior  convolutions.  The  shell  is  placed  to  the  ear, 
and  the  subject,  after  waiting  a  short  time,  hears  voices, 
as  in  a  telephone  receiver.  We  have  often  replaced  the 
shell  by  a  metal  box,  which  produced  the  same  effect. 

We  give,  first  of  all,  a  case  of  mental  audition  without 
apparatus,  which  was  published  in  the  Blackburn  Tmies 
and  the  Review  of  Reviews. 

Mr.  Wolstenholme  states  that  some  years  ago,  when 
the  following  incident  occurred,  he  was  living  at  4  and  6 
Preston  New  Road,  Blackburn ;  after  explaining  the  busi- 
ness which  had  called  him  to  Preston,  he  continued : 

"  At  this  time  I  had  a  pony  called  '  Fanny,'  and  as  she 
did  not  get  much  exercise,  I  decided  to  drive  her  to 
Preston,  a  distance  of  nine  miles.  In  the  morning,  I  har- 
nessed her  in  a  passage  at  the  back  of  my  house.  On 
each  side  Avas  a  wall,  about  eight  feet  high  ;  on  one  side  it 
was  the  parting  wall  between  the  back  parts  of  the  adjoin- 
ing houses,  and  on  the  other  the  wall  faced  a  large  timber- 
yard.  I  was  quite  ready  for  my  journey,  and  went  into 
the  house  again  to  get  a  rug  and  whip.  On  returning 
with  these  and  standing  in  the  trap,  arranging  the  rugs, 
&c.,  I  heard  a  man's  voice  quite  close  to  my  ears,  saying, 
'  Take  some  string  in  your  pocket.'      I  at   once  turned 

175 


176  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

round  to  see  who  had  spoken,  when,  to  my  surprise,  there 
was  no  one  in  the  passage  or  near  at  hand. 

"  There  is  a  cab-rank  in  the  street,  at  the  end  of  the 
passage,  and,  thinking  it  was  one  of  the  cabmen  who  had 
spoken,  I  got  out  of  the  trap  and  went  to  the  end  of  the 
passage  to  see  who  it  was.  There  was  not  a  single  cab  on 
the  rank,  and  the  only  person  I  could  see  was  a  lady  who 
was  seventy  or  eighty  yards  away  on  the  other  side  of  the 
street. 

"  There  was  no  apparent  reason  why  I  should  take 
any  string  in  my  pocket.  I  went  back  into  the  house  and 
related  the  incident  to  my  wife.  '  Ah,  well ! '  she  said, 
*  take  the  string,  it  is  not  very  heavy.'  And  I  took  several 
yards. 

"  I  reached  Preston  without  accident,  went  to  the  Dog 
Hotel,  and  left  Fanny  in  charge  of  the  landlord.  After 
the  meeting  we  returned  to  the  hotel  to  have  some  tea, 
and  at  twenty  minutes  to  nine  I  set  out  on  my  return 
journey.  It  was  a  very  dark  night,  but  I  had  good  lamps. 
Fanny  trotted  along  at  a  good  pace,  and  all  was  going  well, 
when  suddenly  she  stopped,  and  whether  I  whipped  or 
coaxed  her  she  would  not  move  a  step  forward,  but  backed 
the  trap  against  the  hedge  by  the  side  of  the  road. 

"  I  jumped  out  and  hurried  to  the  horse's  head  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.  I  at  once  saw  that  one  of  the  traces 
was  broken  inside  the  piece  of  metal  which  fastened  it  to 
the  collar.  The  defect,  which  was  hidden  by  the  metal, 
had  escaped  my  notice,  and  I  was  quite  unaware  that 
there  was  any  defect  in  the  harness. 

"  I  took  off  the  collar,  and  at  once  saw  the  utility  of 
the  string  I  had  put  in  my  pocket.  I  mended  the  collar 
temporarily,  so  that  Fanny  was  able  to  take  me  back  home. 
Without  the  string  I  must  have  left  the  trap  on  the  road 
and  walked  six  miles  on  foot. 

"  Who  warned  me  ?  I  do  not  know.  All  I  know  is  that 
a  voice  sounded  close  to  me,  not  more  than  a  foot  away, 
and  that  it  was  a  man's  voice.  The  nearest  person  I 
could  see  was  a  lady,  and  she  was  seventy  or  eighty  yards 
away." 


MENTAL   AUDITION  177 

We  have  narrated  this  incident,  although  it  was  spon- 
taneous, because  it  refers  to  the  same  phenomenon  that 
we  are  now  studying. 

Mr.  Myers,  in  his  work  on  Human  Personality ,  quotes 
the  following  experiments  by  Miss  X.  on  hearing  in  the 
shell. 

The  following  are  the  exact  words  of  Miss  X. : 

"  Nature  has  endowed  me  with  an  exquisitely  fine  and 
sensitive  ear,  which  has  developed  during  three  years' 
scientific  musical  education,  and  it  was  with  a  certain 
amount  of  confidence  that  I  took  a  smooth-lipped  por- 
celain shell,  large  enough  to  hold  in  the  palm  of  my  hand, 
and,  placing  it  close  to  my  ear,  awaited  results. 

"  At  first  I  heard  the  monotonous  sound  of  the  sea 
which  all  children  know,  but  after  a  few  minutes'  concen- 
trated attention  my  ear  became  accustomed  to  the  sound, 
which  became,  so  to  speak,  the  undertone  of  the  more 
articulate  sounds  which  followed. 

"  I  found  the  experiment  more  fatiguing  than  that 
of  the  crystal,  and  this  time  I  did  not  continue  it.  I 
never  prokmged  the  experiment  beyond  six  or  eight 
minutes. 

"  After  twenty  experiments  I  summed  up  the  results 
as  follows  : 

"  1.  Eleven  times  I  heard  human  voices.  They  fol- 
lowed rapidly  during  only  one  experiment,  and  may  be 
divided  into  two  groups. 

"  {a)  Those  more  or  less  recognisable,  sometimes 
coming  separately,  and  sometimes  rising  like  a  Tower  of 
Babel,  with  the  effect  of  a  large  assembly.  It  was  pro- 
bably the  memories  of  something  I  had  heard,  although 
of  a  kind  which  did  not  come  to  my  knowledge  in  the 
ordinary  manner.  Sometimes  I  heard  distinctly  the  exact 
repetitions  of  some  conversations  in  which  I  had  taken 
part,  or,  still  more  frequently,  what  I  had  overheard, 

"  For  example,  after  a  dinner,  the  shell  would  repeat 
the  conversations  of  my  neighbour  on  my  right,  rather 
than  that  of  the  person  on  my  left,  with  whom  I  was  con- 
versing.    There  was,  in  this  instance,  I  believe,  an  analogy 

M 


178  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

with  crystal-gazing.     The  crystal  more  frequently  shows 
what  is  unconsciously  rather  than  consciously  observed. 

"  (h)  Voices  which  I  did  not  recognise  and  which  were 
of  such  a  character  that  I  could  not  distinguish  them,  and 
which  gave  me  information  or  advice  which  my  conscious 
self  was  capable — although,  perhaps,  with  effort — of  giving, 
such  as  a  quotation  from  poetry  or  prose,  a  number,  an 
address,  advice  to  write  a  letter  or  send  a  parcel. 

"  2.  Nine  times  I  heard  musical  sounds,  and  I  am 
certain  that  out  of  these  nine  times  the  shell  positively 
assisted  my  memory  five  times.  I  was  able  to  distinguish, 
and  follow  without  difficulty — as  I  could  generally  in  a 
concert-hall — first  one  part,  then  another,  of  a  chorus  or 
orchestra  alternately,  and  to  change  at  will,  as  I  am  rarely 
able  to  do,  without  the  score,  even  by  a  conscious  effort, 
a  few  hours  after  hearing  a  symphony  or  a  concert. 

"  It  is  well  to  point  out  that  the  shell  happily  does  not 
merely  reproduce  street  noises  or  the  unpleasant  roarings 
of  street  urchins  and  barrel-organs.  Is  not  this  because, 
as  in  crystal-gazing,  fatigue  or  irritation,  which  may, 
perhaps,  be  a  source  of  danger  in  itself,  suffices  to 
prevent  the  success  of  the  experiment  ? 

"  All  this,  however,  might  be  attributed,  in  different 
degrees,  to  expectation,  and,  to  this  extent,  was  disappoint- 
ing. However,  on  June  3rd  a  slight  incident  occurred 
which  I  found  encouraging. 

"I  had  been  out-of-doors  for  two  hours  and  had  let 
myself  in  with  my  latch-key ;  I  had  particularly  noticed 
that  no  letters  or  cards  had  arrived,  and  I  had  spoken  to 
no  one  before  coming  into  the  room  where  my  friend  A. 
was  sitting  reading.  It  was  close  upon  lunch-time  and  I 
took  the  shell  to  pass  the  time.  As  I  had  observed  with 
regard  to  crystal  visions,  a  definite  fact  is  quickly  con- 
structed and  comes  to  the  surface  at  once,  and  the  shell 
did  not  lose  a  second  in  greeting  me  with  the  clear 
murmur  '  Endsleigh  Street,'  to  which  I  could  attach  no 
meaning.  Then  A.,  raising  her  head,  told  me  that  our 
friend,  Q.  H.,  had  called  and  had  been  waiting  an  hour  for 
me.    '  Has  he  come  from  Oxford  for  the  day  ? '  I  asked, '  or 


MENTAL    AUDITION  179 

is  he  staying  near  here  ? '  (as  he  usually  did).     '  No,'  said 
A,  'he  has  taken  a  room  in  Endsleigh  Street.' 

"  As  far  as  I  can  remember,  I  had  never  been  in  this 
street  in  my  life,  and  this  name  was  not  connected  with 
any  remembrance. 

"It  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  the  coincidence  was 
purely  accidental. 

"  A  few  days  later,  I  was  still  more  encouraged.  On 
June  11th,  a  Saturday,  Mr.  G.  A.  Smith  spent  some  time 
with  us,  making  some  experiments  in  thought-transference, 
which  succeeded  very  well  and  greatly  interested  me. 
Mr.  Smith  left  the  house  shortly  after  seven  o'clock. 
After  dinner  I  took  the  shell  which  had  played  a  part — 
not  a  very  successful  one — in  our  experiments. 

"  This,  according  to  my  notes,  is  exactly  what  occurred. 

X.  to  G.  A.  S. 

"/wnell,  1892.     Saturday  evening,  8.S0. 

"  Why,  whilst  the  shell  was  repeating  exactly  what  you 
said  about  your  excursions  on  the  rocks  at  Ramsgate, 
should  it  stop  all  of  a  sudden  and  ask,  still  with  your 
voice,  '  Are  you  then  a  vegetarian  ? '  Perhaps  the  last 
time  you  dined  you  refused  meat  ?  Tell  me  if  you  were 
responsible  for  this  impertinence." 

G.  A.  S.  to  X. 

"  June  1 3th. 

"  Certainly,  the  shell  spoke  the  truth.  As  you  know, 
I  left  you  after  seven  o'clock.  After  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  walk,  I  suddenly  met  Mr.  M.  I  was  thinking  of 
our  experiments  and  fear  I  did  not  follow  his  conversation 
very  well,  but  he  alluded  to  some  dishes  at  a  vegetarian 
restaurant,  I  do  not  know  where,  and  then,  being  imme- 
diately interested  in  the  question  as  to  whether  he  was  a 
champion  of  the  vegetarian  cause,  I  interrupted  him  with 
the  question :  '  Are  you  then  a  vegetarian  ? '  I  think 
these  are  the  exact  words  I  used.  He  will  surely  recall 
them,  and  I  must  ask  him." 


180  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

G.  A.  S.  to  X. 

"  June  23rd. 

"  I  have  thought  over  to-day  where  I  was  on  June 
11th,  on  leaving  you  when  I  met  Mr.  M.  It  took  me 
exactly  eleven  minutes.  If  it  was  a  quarter  past  seven 
when  I  left  you,  it  was  probably  half-past  seven,  or  a  few 
minutes  later,  when  I  put  the  question  to  Mr.  M. 

"  Mr  M.  was  not  at  home,  and  although  asked  to  reply 
at  once,  he  only  wrote  on  June  22nd  the  following  to  Mr. 
Smith  (without  relating  the  exact  details  of  the  preceding 
conversation) :  '  The  principal  thing  is  that  you  asked  me, 
I  am  sure,  on  the  occasion  of  which  you  speak,  when  I 
praised  the  cafe  in  Oxford  Street,  if  I  was  a  vegetarian. 
That  is  the  heart  of  the  question,  and  it  is  well  established.'  " 

Even  the  triviality  and  grotesqueness  of  the  incident 
give  rise  to  reflection,  apart  from  its  connection  with  shell- 
audition,  which,  however,  supplies  us  with  a  curious  example 
of  arriving  at  unexpected  knowledge  through  its  means. 

Since  that  time  I  have  made  notes  of  about  fifty  new 
experiments,  but  those  I  have  mentioned  may  be  regarded 
as  typical  of  all.  Half-a-dozen,  at  most,  cannot  be  counted, 
as  proving  telepathy ;  twenty,  perhaps,  may  be  classed  as 
the  emergence  of  recollections  which  would  never  other- 
wise have  come  to  light  again,  and  another  dozen  may  be 
regarded  as  the  result  of  expectancy.  All  the  rest  con- 
sisted of  musical  sounds,  some  of  which  were  purely  due 
to  imagination.  The  others  were  of  a  very  definite 
character,  so  much  so  that  I  succeeded  in  reproducing 
them  on  the  piano  or  writing  them  down  at  the  same 
moment,  but  they  did  not  differ  at  all  from  what  I  could 
improvise  in  the  ordinary  way. 

Twice  only  have  I  heard  connected  rational  phrases, 
of  which,  at  the  time,  I  could  not  sec  the  connection, 
either  with  recollections  or  things  imagined ;  but  in  these 
two  cases  I  eventually  discovered  their  origin,  the  one  in 
a  book  and  the  other  on  the  fourth  page  of  a  letter  which 
I  had  thought  finished  on  the  third  page,  but  the  fourth 
page  of  which  I  think  I  must  have  read,  when  taking  it  out 
of  the  envelope,  and  forgotten. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

CRYSTAL   VISIONS  COMBINED  WITH   LUCIDITY 

This  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  two  cases  of  crystal  vision, 
in  which  the  faculty  of  lucidity  appeared  in  a  most  in- 
teresting manner,  and  the  authenticity  of  which  is  com- 
pletely verified.  The  first  case  is  taken  from  Les  Annales 
des  Sciences  Psychiques. 

"At  the  commencement  of  the  spring  of  1885  (writes 
the  correspondent  of  this  journal)  I  was  living  at  Colabo 
with  my  husband,  a  major  in  the  Royal  Artillery  stationed 
at  that  place,  about  two  miles  from  Bombay.  I  had  been 
studying  for  some  time  Gregory's  Animal  Magnetisiyi,  a 
subject  in  which  I  was  particularly  interested.  I  had 
several  times  made  various  fairly  successful  experiments 
on  some  of  my  servants — mostly  Indians.  I  had  great 
influence  over  my  children's  ayah,  a  half-caste.  I  fre- 
quently caused  her  to  look  in  a  large  glass  of  water, 
which  I  had  previously  magnetised,  and  thus  learned 
news  of  my  distant  friends. 

"  This  girl  was  neither  common  nor  ignorant — she  was, 
on  the  contrary,  well  brought  up,  having  received  a  good 
education  in  a  Protestant  school  at  Belgaum.  She  spoke 
and  wrote  English  almost  as  correctly  as  myself.  She 
told  me  many  things  which  I  found  to  be  correct,  and 
others  which  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  verify. 

"  The  Royal  Artillery,  of  which  my  husband  was  in 
command,  was  encamped  with  other  European  troops 
at  Colabo.  On  the  day  of  Lord  Reay's  arrival  at  Bombay 
there  came  an  order  for  the  troops  to  go  to  Apollo  Bunder, 
the  place  of  landing,  with  all  the  officers  in  full  regi- 
mentals. We  were  still  at  lunch  when  my  husband  told 
his  orderly  to  make  ready  his  uniform,  but  the  man  came 
back  shortly,  confused  and  stammering  out : 

181 


182  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

" '  Sahib,  I  cannot  find  the  belt.' 

" '  Do  not  be  so  silly,  you  must  be  blind,'  replied  the 
major,  rising  up  impatiently  and  going  to  his  dressing- 
room. 

"  But  from  the  sounds  which  reached  me,  it  appeared 
that  the  sword-belt  could  not  be  found,  and  that  my 
husband  was  furiously  accusing  each  of  his  servants. 
Cries  of 'Not  me,  Sahib;  I  very  good  man;  I  not  thief 
filled  the  air.  The  cries,  shoutings,  and  noises  grew  per- 
fectly deafening.  My  husband  came  into  the  dining-room 
and  said : 

"  '  Well,  here  is  a  capital  opportunity  to  test  Ruth's 
clairvoyance.     Call  her  and  tell  her  to  find  my  belt,' 

"  I  called  for  Ruth,  who  came  in  pale  and  trembling, 
thinking  that  we  were  going  to  accuse  her  of  the  theft. 

"  I  reassured  her,  and  explained  what  we  wanted 
of  her  ;  but  she  asked  me  to  excuse  her,  alleging  that 
the  other  servants  would  never  forgive  her  if  the  thief 
was  discovered  through  her.  I  calmed  her  fears,  and 
promised  that  I  would  reveal  to  nobody,  not  even  to 
my  husband,  the  name  of  the  thief,  if  it  was  shown 
to  her  in  the  water.  I  alone  would  know  it,  and  would 
even  pardon  the  theft  if  the  stolen  object  was  restored. 

"  After  filling  a  large  goblet  with  water  I  made  the 
passes  over  it,  and  told  Ruth  to  taste  it. 

"  '  It  is  very  bitter,'  she  said.  '  If  Mem  Sahib  would 
magnetise  me  I  think  I  could  see.' 

"  It  is  perhaps  well  to  add  that  Ruth  always  found 
a  taste  of  bitterness  in  magnetised  water.  I  often  placed 
side  by  side  two  glasses  filled  with  water,  of  which  only 
one  had  been  magnetised.  Ruth  tasted  both,  and  then 
told  which  of  the  two  had  been  magnetised,  declaring 
that  it  had  a  bitter  taste,  and  she  never  made  a  mistake. 
I  once  procured  a  very  powerful  magnet,  thinking  that 
it  would  doubtless  have  more  effect  than  my  hand ;  but 
Ruth  refused  to  look  in  the  Avatcr,  declaring  that  she 
saw  flames,  which  sprang  up  as  though  they  would  burn 
her  face.  It  seemed  impossible  to  deceive  her ;  she  recog- 
nised every  time  what  she  called  the  '  condemned  glass.' 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  183 

"Returning  to  our  story,  after  this  long  digression, 
which,  however,  seemed  necessary,  Ruth  was  bending 
over  her  glass  of  water. 

"  '  Well,'  I  said,  '  can  you  see  anything  ? ' 

"  '  No,  Mem  Sahib,  nothing.' 

" '  Look  for  the  thief,'  I  commanded  firmly,  and  I 
again  made  passes  over  her  neck  and  head,  but  without 
result ;  she  persisted  in  saying  that  she  could  see  nothing. 
I  began  to  think  that  she  was  trifling  with  me,  and  that 
she  had  deceived  me. 

"  A  new  idea  occurred  to  me  : 

"  '  Ruth,  try  to  see  the  major  the  last  time  he  wore  his 
full-dress  belt.' 

"  A  long  silence  ensued,  then  she  said  : 

"  '  I  see  the  Sahib,  he  is  dressing ;  he  puts  on  his  uni- 
form, now  his  belt.  Now  he  is  off!  There  he  is  in  the 
saddle,  and  he  starts.' 

"  '  Do  not  leave  him  for  a  second,'  I  said,  with  renewed 
firmness. 

"  '  Ah !  but  he  goes  so  fast,  and  I  am  tired,'  she 
replied,  out  of  breath. 

"  '  Come  on  !     Come  on  ! ' 

"  '  Sahib  is  with  other  Sahibs ;  there  are  many  soldiers 
and  a  large  crowd.  It  is  a  large  Tomasha;  some  great 
person  who  is  going.     They  are  quite  near  the  water.' 

"'Now  rest  yourself,  but  do  not  lose  sight  of  the 
major.' 

"  After  a  moment's  silence  she  added  : 

"  '  The  Sahib  goes  into  a  large  house  by  the  side  of 
the  water.  He  goes  into  a  dressing-room,  changes  his 
uniform,  places  it  in  a  small  zinc  trunk  with  the  exception 
of  the  belt,  which  is  left  hanging  on  a  coat-rack.' 

"  '  The  Yacht  Club,'  cried  my  husband.  '  Patillo  (to 
his  orderly),  send  some  one  immediately  to  see  if  the 
belt  is  still  there.' 

"  '  I  should  much  like  to  know,'  resumed  my  husband, 
'  if  I  really  left  it  there.  The  last  time  I  wore  it  was  the 
day  Lord  Ripon  left  for  England.' 

" '  We  shall  soon  know,'  I  replied  triumphantly,  because 


184  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

there  was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  belt  would  be 
found  there. 

"  A  short  while  afterwards  the  messenger  came  running 
back,  and  the  great  tumult  which  I  heard  around  him  con- 
vinced me,  before  seeing  him,  that  my  predictions  were 
correct ;  he  ran  nimbly  up  the  stairs,  carrying  the  belt 
over  his  head;  he  had  found  it  on  a  coat-rack  in  the 
dressing-room,  as  Ruth  had  indicated. 

"  This  young  woman  could  not  have  had  any  idea 
where  the  sword-belt  was;  she  had  only  been  in  my 
service  for  a  short  time,  and  had  entered  it  long  after 
the  departure  of  Lord  Ripon. 

'*  In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  I  was  greatly  interested 
in  a  grand  polo  tournament,  which  was  to  be  held  at 
Meerut.  One  of  my  friends  at  that  time  was  to  take  part 
in  it,  and  although  a  good  horseman,  and  an  excellent 
player,  ho  had  had  frequent  accidents  when  on  horseback, 
which  caused  me  some  anxiety  on  his  account.  Once 
more  I  had  recourse  to  Ruth.  We  shut  ourselves  up 
together  in  my  room,  and  I  began  to  magnetise  a  glass 
of  water;  but  this  time  she  asked  for  a  piece  of  brown 
paper  to  be  placed  underneath,  declaring  that  she  could 
then  see  much  more  distinctly.  She  placed  her  hands 
around  the  glass,  in  order  to  soften  the  light. 

" '  Go  to  Meerut.' 

"After  a  wait  of  at  least  ten  minutes  she  said,  'I  am 
there.' 

"  '  Look  for  Sahib,'  I  said,  mentioning  the  name  of  my 
friend. 

" '  I   see    a   tall,  dark,  thin   man,  with   a   small   black 
moustache,  and  large  terrible  eyes.' 

"  '  Follow  him  and  tell  me  what  happens  to  him.' 

"  *  He  is  going  on  all  right,  but  the  other  side  is  winning. 
'  Ah  ! '  she  cried,  with  compassion,  '  there  is  a  gentleman 
who  has  been  bitten  on  the  leg  by  a  horse.  He  is  suffering 
much.' 

"  ■  And  my  friend  ? '  I  inquired  anxiously. 

" '  No,  no,  not  the  friend  of  Mem  Sahib ;  that  is  a  fair 
gentleman  with  red  face  and  very  light  hair.' 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  185 

"  '  Ask  his  name,'  I  said  to  her,  fixing  my  eyes  on  her, 
and  exercising  all  the  force  of  my  will. 

"  '  But  I  cannot,'  she  replied  hesitatingly, 

" '  Do  as  I  tell  you,'  I  replied  firmly. 

" '  I  will  ask  his  servant,  if  you  can  make  me  see 
him.' 

"I  tried  with  all  my  power,  but  absolutely  without 
any  result. 

" '  Hush  !     I  hear  his  name ;  it  is  Captain  X.' 

"  I  jumped  for  joy :  she  had  never  seen  the  man  she 
mentioned,  nor  even  heard  him  spoken  of.  I  am  quite 
sure  of  this,  whereas  she  might,  perhaps,  have  recognised 
my  friend  from  his  photograph.  But,  in  truth,  I  had  never 
thought  of  Captain  X.  since  we  had  left  the  place  where 
my  husband's  battery  had  formerly  been  encamped. 

"It  is  more  than  five  years  since  these  events  occurred, 
and  I  do  not  recollect  which  side  won  the  match,  whether 
it  was  my  friend's  or  not,  but  I  very  well  remember  what 
I  have  here  stated. 

"When  my  husband  returned  that  evening  I  asked 
him  if  he  had  heard  any  news  of  the  tournament. 

"  '  No,'  he  replied ;  '  we  shall  not  be  able  to  hear  before 
to-morrow.' 

"  '  Well,  but  I  can  give  you  some.  Ruth  tells  me  that 
Captain  X.,  of  the  17th  Lancers,  has  been  bitten  on  the 
leg ;  Z.  is  all  right,  but  she  believes  that  his  friends  are 
beaten.' 

'"We  shall  see  to-morrow  morning  if  Ruth  is  right 
again,'  said  my  husband,  laughing.  He  related  at  the 
officers'  mess  what  he  called  my  '  telegram  through  the 
glass  of  water,'  and  I  believe  they  had  a  good  laugh  over 
my  credulity.  Nevertheless,  the  message  received  on  the 
following  day  confirmed  Ruth's  story  in  all  points. 

"  Some  time  afterwards  we  received  a  visit  from  a 
friend  of  my  husband,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  district 
of  Assigurgh.  My  husband  told  him  of  the  strange  power 
which  Ruth  possessed ;  it  then  occurred  to  him  to  ask  my 
permission  to  see  if  she  could  recover  some  valuables  which 
he  had  lost. 


186  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

" '  I  ought  to  tell  you  first  of  all,'  he  said,  '  that  I  am 
absolutely  sceptical  and  it  will  require  very  strong  proofs 
to  convince  me.' 

"  1  felt  humiliated,  because  if  this  young  woman  was  a 
humbug,  I  was  her  dupe,  or  something  worse.  I  sent  for 
Ruth,  who  was  quite  as  indignant  as  I  was,  and  refused 
point-blank  to  do  what  was  expected  of  her.  I  insisted, 
trying  to  make  her  understand  that  it  would  redound  to 
the  credit  of  both  of  us,  so  at  last  she  consented,  though 
with  rather  bad  grace. 

"  After  the  preliminaries,  I  transmitted  the  questions 
from  the  major  to  her : 

" '  Go  to  Assigurgh  and  describe  my  bedroom.' 

"  Ruth  described  the  room  very  correctly,  as  the 
magistrate  was  willing  to  admit. 

" '  Now  tell  me  what  I  have  lost.' 

" '  I  see  a  casket,  not  very  large.  It  is  of  zinc,  and 
contains  money  and  a  roll  of  paper.' 

"  '  You  are  right !  cried  the  major  astonished.  '  Now 
tell  me  where  this  casket  is  at  present.' 

" '  It  is  in  a  small  room.     Must  I  open  it  ? ' 

'"Yes,  and  tell  me  what  is  inside.' 

"  She  stopped  for  a  moment. 

•"There  are  only  some  papers.  Sahib;  the  money  is 
gone.' 

" '  Describe  to  me  the  man  who  has  taken  the  money.' 

"  '  He  is  not  there  ;  the  room  is  empty.' 

"  '  Look  for  him.' 

" '  He  is  in  Sahib's  room.  He  is  a  short,  dark  man, 
with  a  pleasing  face,  dressed  in  white,  with  a  scarlet  and 
gold  turban.     He  has  a  scar  on  his  left  hand.' 

"  '  Thunder  !  It  is  my  butler ;  just  the  man  I  suspected,' 
cried  the  major. 

"  Some  days  after  Major  X.  had  returned  to  Assigurgh 
he  wrote  to  me  that  he  had  found  the  casket  in  the  house, 
or  rather  in  his  servant's  room,  but  the  papers  were  no 
longer  there  ;  the  box  was  empty. 

"  I  concluded  that  Ruth  had  seen  the  casket  before 
the  papers  had  been  taken  out.    I  have  often  noticed  that 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  187 

she  had  no  particular  conception  of  time  in  regard  to  the 
events,  although  she  very  well  described  the  facts  of  the 
moment. 

"  Another  time  I  lost  a  piece  of  pink  satin  embroidered 
with  gold,  and  it  could  not  be  found  anywhere.  I  did  not 
suspect  any  of  my  servants,  believing  them  to  be  devoted, 
and  all,  with  one  exception,  had  been  for  a  long  time  in 
my  employ.  I  did  not  believe  this  man  to  be  guilty, 
because  I  was  convinced  that  he  never  went  into  my 
room.  However,  Ruth  declared  that  he  was  the  thief, 
and  he  gave  me  back  the  missing  article ;  but  on  learning 
how  I  had  made  the  discovery  he  spread  abroad  the 
rumour  that  I  was  a  sorceress." 

The  following  account  was  published  in  the  Annals  of 
Psychical  Science  for  May  1005,  over  the  signature  of  Dr. 
Edmond  Waller. 

"  Two  summers  ago  my  father  cwdered  from  London 
an  object  known  under  the  name  of  a  Cr3^stal -gazing  Ball. 
He  and  his  family  left  Paris  on  a  visit  to  our  country-seat 
before  the  object  arrived. 

"  A  few  days  afterwards,  on  a  Saturday,  I  received  the 
package  from  London,  and  took  it  the  same  evening  to 
my  parents  in  the  country.  Immediately  after  dinner  all 
of  us — father,  mother,  sister,  friends,  and  even  domestics — 
tried  to  see  what  the  glass  ball  could  show  us ;  the  only 
result  was  tired  eyes,  we  could  see  nothing.  On  the 
evening  of  the  following  day  one  of  the  servants,  a  faith- 
ful old  woman  who  had  been  in  our  service  for  years,  as 
soon  as  she  looked  into  the  crystal  (we  had  resumed  our 
experiments  of  the  preceding  night)  turned  very  pale ;  we 
asked  her  what  she  saw.  '  A  coffin ! '  she  replied.  A  few 
weeks  afterwards  her  brother,  a  young  fellow  of  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  died  of  typhoid  fever.  For  several 
evenings  in  succession  we  tried  the  crystal,  but  with  the 
exception  of  the  above  incident  we  saw  absolutely  nothing ; 
finally  the  crystal  was  put  away  in  a  corner  and  neglected 
by  every  one. 

"  A  few  months  later,  I  went  one  day  to  see  my  parents 
in  Paris.     I  felt  suddenly  a  strong  desire  to  try  again  Avith 


188  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  crystal,  and  I  asked  my  mother  to  allow  me  to  take  it 
away  with  me.  The  next  evening  for  forty-five  minutes 
I  conscientiously  tried,  but  could  see  absolutely  nothing. 
I  worked — if  I  may  use  that  word — with  the  crystal  for 
nearly  three  weeks,  without  any  better  success.  I  lost 
my  enthusiasm,  or  rather  I  became  tired  of  my  repeated 
failures,  and  I  put  the  object,  which  had  given  me  so 
little  satisfaction,  in  the  bottom  of  a  drawer,  with  the 
fixed  determination  never  again  to  tire  my  eyes  and 
waste  my  time  with  such  an  uninteresting  article. 

"  However,  one  afternoon  a  few  months  later  a  curious 
morbid  sensation  seized  me.  I  went  home  much  earlier 
than  usual  in  hopes  that  a  good  night's  rest  might  restore 
me  to  my  normal  state  of  mind.  I  went  to  bed,  but  it 
was  impossible  to  sleep ;  and,  moreover,  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  the  crystal.  After  several  hours  of  insomnia 
I  got  up,  and  somewhat  hesitatingly  I  opened  the  drawer 
in  which  the  crystal  lay,  I  took  it  out  and  put  it  on  the 
table  in  the  dining-room ;  I  sat  down  in  front  of  it,  and 
scarcely  had  I  put  my  hands  on  the  table  and  raised  my 
eyes,  when  I  saw  one  of  my  friends  in  the  crystal.  Only 
her  bust  appeared ;  the  likeness  was  striking,  and  yet  on 
the  face  there  was  something  which  I  saw  in  that  crystal 
which  I  had  never  seen  on  my  friend's  face.  It  was  not 
so  much  the  features  which  were  different,  it  was  some- 
thing more  profound ;  I  will  not  enlarge  on  this  point, 
but  will  leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  deductions. 
This  experience  left  me  sad  and  happy  at  the  same  time ; 
happy,  because  I  had  at  last  seen  something  in  the 
crystal ;  sad,  because  of  that  curious  expression  on  my 
friend's  face. 

"  For  the  sake  of  the  relation  it  bears  to  this  history, 
I  ought  to  say  that  the  young  woman  who  happens 
to  be  its  heroine  had  been  for  me,  but  a  few  years 
previously,  a  young  girl  for  whom  I  had  felt  more 
than  simple  admiration.  She  was  one  who  commanded 
universal  respect  by  reason  of  the  atmosphere  which  sur- 
rounded her.  She  was  for  me  what  a  woman  ought  to 
be  in  the  finest  sense  of  the  word.     I  used  to  see  her  and 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  189 

her  mother  frequently.  We  were  suddenly  separated,  to 
my  great  grief.  We  corresponded  with  one  another  for 
a  few  months ;  but  little  by  little — I  ought  to  confess  it 
was  my  own  fault — our  correspondence  became  rarer,  and 
finally  ceased  altogether. 

"Two  years  had  gone  by  when  one  day  I  heard  of 
the  marriage  of  my  friend ;  she  was  now  Mrs.  D,  She 
and  her  husband  came  to  Paris  on  their  honeymoon. 
Mrs.  D.  brought  her  husband  to  see  me ;  he  was  one  of 
those  men  whom  one  often  sees  among  English  officers, 
a  fine  athlete — a  big,  impulsive,  generous-hearted  man. 
From  the  very  first  moment  a  great — a  very  great — friend- 
ship sprang  up  between  that  man  and  myself.  I  often 
saw  the  young  couple  together,  but  I  saw  D.  more  often 
still. 

"  Unfortunately,  my  friend  was  obliged  to  leave  with 
his  regiment,  which  was  ordered  to  the  Transvaal.  As 
one  of  his  wife's  oldest  friends,  and  possessing  the  greatest 
confidence  in  me,  D.  asked  me  if,  during  his  absence,  I 
would  watch  over  his  wife — the  being  he  loved  more  than 
all  else  on  earth.  This  was  an  indescribable  joy  to  me — 
first  of  all,  to  be  able  to  protect  this  young  woman  against 
the  insolences  of  life  in  a  great  city,  a  life  for  which  she 
was  unfit,  for  she  was  morally  too  beautiful  to  be  able 
to  see  the  hideousness  of  the  masses  surrounding  her ; 
secondly,  it  was  a  proof  of  the  confidence  her  husband 
had  in  me.  Most  unfortunately  I  was  unable  to  fulfil 
my  promise  of  protection,  for  soon  after  her  husband's 
departure  Mrs.  D.  was  obliged  to  accompany  her  mother 
to  America.  I  wrote  to  her  three  times,  but  received  no 
answer  to  my  letters.  It  was  the  crystal  which  served 
to  bring  us  into  touch  with  one  another  again.  And 
now,  having  given  these  few,  I  think,  necessary  details 
concerning  my  two  friends,  I  will  return  to  the  evening 
following  the  one  when  I  saw  my  friend's  face  in  the 
crystal. 

"  I  felt  extremely  fatigued  that  day,  and  again  went 
home  very  early.  Notwithstanding  my  fatigue,  I  took 
up  the  crystal  and  gazed  into  it  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 


190  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

but  without  the  smallest  result.  My  eyes  were  positively 
in  a  state  of  congestion,  when  at  last  I  threw  myself  on 
my  bed  and  quickly  dropped  off  to  sleep.  In  a  few 
hours  I  awoke,  surprised  to  find  myself  in  that  position. 
I  got  up,  sat  down  in  front  of  the  crystal,  and  instantly  I 
saw  the  silhouette  of  my  friend  side  by  side  with  that  of 
a  man ;  the  latter  was  less  distinct  than  my  friend,  they 
were  both  surrounded  by  trees  and  people.  I  closed  my 
eyes  for  a  second,  opened  them  and  looked  again  into  the 
crystal ;  this  time  I  distinctly  saw  Mrs.  D.  and  the  man 
who  was  with  her — a  man  whom  I  had  never  seen  before — 
as  well  as  the  paddock  of  the  race-course  at  Longchamps, 
with  all  the  customary  surroundings  of  this  race-course 
during  a  meeting. 

"  Although  at  that  time  I  often  went  to  races,  my  many 
social  duties  made  it  extremely  difficult  for  me  to  be  present 
at  the  race-meeting  to  take  place  on  the  Sunday  following 
the  evening  in  question,  and,  most  certainly,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  crystal  I  should  never  have  postponed  several 
important  engagements  in  order  to  go  to  the  races  that 
Sunday.  I  was  unable  to  be  present  at  the  first  two  races  ; 
but  one  of  my  uncles  had  a  horse  running  in  the  third, 
and  for  various  reasons  I  was  rather  interested  in  this  trial. 

"  I  arrived  at  the  gate  of  the  weighing  yard  just  as  the 
bell  rang  announcing  the  start.  I  rushed  to  the  winning- 
post,  thinking  little  of  the  crystal  which  was  the  cause  of 
my  presence  at  the  course,  and  still  less  of  the  visions  I 
had  seen  in  it. 

"  As  I  came  up  to  the  stand,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the 
president's  box,  how  great  was  my  stupefaction  to  see  (1) 
Mrs.  D.  and  (2)  to  recognise  beside  her,  for  the  second 
time  in  my  life,  and  for  the  first  time  in  flesh  and  blood, 
the  man  of  my  crystal !  I  saw  absolutely  nothing  of  the 
race.  After  my  first  movement  of  astonishment,  in  spite  of 
all  the  covenances,  I  drew  near  to  Mrs.  D.  and  the  indi- 
vidual accompanying  her ;  but  I  had  been  seen,  and  they 
both  avoided  me  in  so  marked  a  manner  that  I  dared  not 
insist. 

"  I  took  a  chair  and  sat  down.    I  felt  suddenly  cold  all 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  191 

over — I  saw  nothing,  heard  nothing;  it  was  only  several 
minutes  later  that  one  of  my  friends,  with  a  formidable 
slap  on  the  shoulder,  succeeded  in  arousing  me  out  of  the 
state  of  lethargy  into  which  I  had  fallen.  Believing  I  was 
ill,  and  telling  me  I  was  positively  livid,  he  tried  to  insist 
upon  my  leaving  the  race-course  and  taking  me  home. 
But  a  profound  fascination  held  me  to  the  spot,  and  like 
a  hound  on  the  track,  I  followed  the  two  individuals  of 
my  crystal. 

"  Thoroughly  upset,  when  the  meeting  was  over  I  took 
a  cab  and  drove  to  the  hotel  where  Mrs.  D.,  her  husband, 
and  her  mother  generally  stayed  when  in  Paris.  I  left  a 
letter  imploring  my  friend  to  grant  me  an  interview  as 
soon  as  possible.  For  a  reply  she  sent  me  a  short  note, 
in  which  she  told  me  I  would  see  her  soon,  underlining 
the  words,  you  don't  know  all. 

"  For  seven  months  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to 
obtain  an  interview  with  her.  Finally  I  was  told  at  the 
hotel  that  Mrs.  D.  had  gone  to  the  south  of  France. 

"  Meanwhile  I  had  continued  my  experiments  with 
the  crystal,  though  more  or  less  intermittently.  Several 
times  I  saw  in  it  Mrs.  D.,  her  husband,  the  individual 
whom  I  had  seen  with  her  at  Longchamps,  war-scenes  in 
the  Transvaal,  but  there  was  nothing  very  precise  in  my 
visions. 

"  Seven  days  later  I  heard  of  Mrs.  D.'s  departure  to 
the  Riviera ;  I  saw  the  following  vision  in  the  crystal  : 
Mrs.  D.  accompanied  by  a  man — not  the  one  of  whom 
I  have  been  speaking,  but  a  totally  different  individual. 
I  saw  them  take  a  cab,  and  the  following  scene  unrolled 
itself  in  the  clearest  fashion  before  my  eyes,  just  as  though 
I  were  sitting  in  an  orchestral  stall  at  a  theatre. 

'•  The  streets  were  dirty ;  the  cab  was  an  ordinary  one, 
and  went  in  the  direction  of,  and  stopped  in  front  of, 
a  well-known  restaurant  close  to  the  Opera.  The  two 
occupants  got  out  of  the  cab,  entered  the  restaurant, 
walked  down  a  long  corridor,  went  upstairs,  turned  to  the 
left,  and  were  shown  into  a  private  room  by  a  head  waiter. 
I  saw  everything,  furniture  and  other  utensils,  very  clearly. 


19^  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"The  man  who  accompanied  Mrs.  D.  left  her  alone 
in  the  room,  and  followed  the  waiter ;  then  it  was  that  I  had 
a  sensation  of  speaking  with  Mrs.  D.,  as  though  I  were 
really  present  with  her.  Simultaneously  with  this  sensa- 
tion the  scene  disappeared,  and  there  was  nothing  before 
me  save  the  crystal  ball. 

"  Two  days  afterwards  I  had  a  great  surprise.  Whilst 
I  was  attending  to  a  patient  the  domestic  came  into  the 
room  and  handed  me  a  card.  It  was  D.,  who  I  thought 
was  still  in  the  Transvaal.  He  was  in  a  hurry,  and  could 
not  wait  to  see  me ;  he  fixed  a  rendezvous  for  afternoon- 
tea  in  a  shop  in  the  Rue  Caumartm. 

"  It  was  with  a  certain  emotion  that  I  went  to  the  spot 
agreed  upon.  My  friend  was  alone.  While  shaking  hands 
he  told  me  he  had  been  wounded  and  sent  home.  He  said 
he  had  refrained  from  telegraphing  in  order  to  give  us  a 
surprise,  and  he  thanked  me  at  the  same  time  for  the 
proof  of  friendship  I  had  given  him  in  taking  such  a 
brotherly  interest  in  his  wife.  A  more  disagreeable  sensa- 
tion than  mine  at  that  moment  it  would  be  impossible  to 
imagine,  with  my  friend's  big,  honest  eyes  fixed  upon  me, 
feeling  myself  grow  paler  beneath  his  regard,  and  unable  to 
utter  a  word !  What  would  he  imagine  ?  The  situation 
was  not  rendered  any  pleasanter  by  Mrs.  D.'s  sudden 
appearance  on  the  scene.  She  came  hurriedly  towards 
us,  shook  me  warmly  by  the  hand,  and  made  me  under- 
stand by  her  looks  that  she  wanted  me  to  tell  little,  and 
that  little  falsehood. 

"  At  that  moment  a  double  reasoning  rose  within  me : 
Ought  I  to  consider  the  day  at  Longchamps  as  black  as  I 
had  painted  it  ?  And  as  for  the  scene  in  the  private  room, 
could  not  a  crystal  have  lied  ?  and  was  it  not  only  my 
pessimistic  nature  which  had  made  mc  see  evil  where 
none  existed  ?  If  such  were  the  case,  my  strict  duty  was 
to  think  no  longer  of  my  past  fancies  and  suspicions, 
and  especially  to  refrain  from  speaking  of  them  to  D. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  could  not  understand  Mrs.  D.'s 
conduct,  and  without  knowing  why,  I  could  not  help 
believing  what  the  crystal  had  suggested  to  nie ;  it  was 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  193 

with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  was  able  to  pass  the 
following  half-hour  with  D.  and  his  wife  without  making 
any  allusion  to  the  crystal. 

"Our  conversation  was,  in  fact,  very  confused  and 
disjointed ;  there  was  something  disagreeable  in  the  air, 
so  to  speak. 

"  I  arranged  to  meet  D.  again  the  next  day  and  to  dine 
with  him  and  his  wife ;  but  when  the  moment  came,  I 
felt  in  such  an  ill  humour  that,  fearing  my  gloomy  coun- 
tenance might  mar  the  evening,  I  begged  my  friends  to 
excuse  me.  I  went  home  early  in  a  state  of  excessive 
and  unaccountable  excitement.  Instead  of  dining  I  took 
my  crystal,  sat  down  in  front  of  it  and  gazed  into  it. 
For  several  minutes  I  saw  nothing,  then  all  at  once  and 
very  clearly  I  saw  Mrs.  D.  with  the  same  individual 
who,  in  the  previous  vision,  had  accompanied  her  to  the 
restaurant.  For  the  second  time  the  crystal  made  me 
a  spectator  of  the  scene  in  the  private  room,  with  this 
difference :  I  remained  until  Mrs.  D.  and  her  restaurant 
friend  left  the  building ;  I  saw  the  man  lead  the  woman 
to  a  private  carriage,  and  without  hearing  a  word,  unable 
to  explain  how  the  phenomenon  was  produced,  I  under- 
stood that  he  fixed  a  rendezvous  with  Mrs.  D.  at  a 
spot  which  was  unknown  to  me,  and  that  he  would  re- 
turn on  Wednesday  at  the  same  hour  and  at  the  same 
restaurant.  I  understood  that  the  order  had  been  given 
for  the  same  room  to  be  kept  for  them.  Everything 
was  so  clear,  that  I  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  but 
that  I  was  gazing  at  a  reality — for  several  minutes  I  was 
thoroughly  convinced  of  it. 

"  At  four  o'clock  on  the  following  afternoon  D.  came  to 
see  me.  Almost  at  once  the  conversation  turned  upon 
delicate  ground — his  wife.  Was  it  the  expression  of 
my  face,  my  manner  of  acting,  which  made  him  suspi- 
cious? I  cannot  say,  but,  suddenly  and  abruptly,  my 
friend  demanded  a  concise  and  precise  account  of  my 
state  of  mind  concerning  himself  and  his  wife.  Without 
stopping  to  think,  and  convinced  somehow  that  I  had 
to  tell  him  of  my  feeling,  I  explained  all  to  him. 

N 


194  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  Bitter  words  followed,  and  it  was  only  out  of  respect 
for  the  spot  we  were  at  that  we  refrained  from  committing 
violent  acts — acts  which  we  should  certainly  have  regretted. 
I  loved  the  man  more  than  ever,  I  was  jealous  of  his 
stubbornness  and,  for  his  own  sake,  I  now  determined 
not  to  permit  him  to  live  any  longer  in  his  fool's 
paradise. 

"  As  for  his  wife,  I  could  not  help  feeling  a  great  pity 
for  her,  and  doing  all  in  my  power  to  prevent  her  from 
falling  any  lower.  I  implored  my  friend  to  watch  very 
closely  the  people  with  whom  she  came  in  contact.  After 
a  few  more  or  less  flattering  epithets — which  might  be 
summed  up  very  simply  in  his  looking  upon  me  as  a 
fool — D.  made  me  promise  to  go  to  the  theatre  with  him 
and  afterwards  to  sup  in  the  very  same  private  room 
where,  according  to  the  crystal,  his  wife  was  to  be. 

"  I  accepted  without  any  hesitation,  convinced  that 
my  friend  was  right,  that  all  would  be  for  the  best,  and 
that  henceforth  my  little  glass  ball  would  but  serve  as 
a  letter-weight  and  nothing  more.  I  had  not  felt  so  happy 
for  a  long  time. 

"  We  were  punctual  at  our  rendezvous ;  we  passed  a 
most  agreeable  evening,  criticising  rather  the  crystal  and 
my  mild  folly  than  the  spectacle  at  which  we  were  present. 
We  went  straight  from  the  theatre  to  the  restaurant, 
where  the  crystal  was  going  to  be  definitely,  once  and  for 
all,  condemned  as  a  liar  of  liars. 

"  We  arrived  at  the  restaurant  at  twenty  minutes  past 
twelve.  The  room  which  my  friend  had  reserved  re- 
sembled very  little  the  room  I  had  seen  in  the  crystal. 
We  were  overflowing  with  good  humour  and  light-hearted- 
ness ;  we  sat  down  to  supper  and  cast  far  out  of  our  minds 
every  thought  of  the  crystal  and  its  manifestations.  We 
spoke  of  things  which  had  nothing  whatever  in  common 
with  the  cause  of  our  tete-a-tete  in  that  private  room. 

"  Half-an-hour  passed  by,  when  all  at  once,  without  any 
reason,  what  seemed  like  a  hallucination  to  my  friend 
and  myself  seized  hold  of  me ;  ray  gaiety  disappeared, 
and   I   could   scarcely  articulate   a  single  word.     A  few 


CRYSTAL   VISIONS  195 

minutes  passed  in  this  way,  when  suddenly  my  friend 
and  I  recognised  the  voice  of  Mrs.  D.  I  knew  not  what 
to  think,  much  less  what  to  say.  D.  rushed  out  of  the 
room  like  a  madman. 

"  I  followed  him  as  quickly  as  I  could,  but  not  quickly 
enough  to  prevent  a  catastrophe.  D.  sprang  upon  the 
individual  who  had  been  so  faithfully  reproduced  by 
the  crystal,  and  only  released  his  hold  of  him  at  the  door 
of  the  restaurant.  The  man  was  in  a  sorry  state;  he 
disappeared  immediately — probably  to  avoid  any  further 
scandal. 

"  Almost  without  saying  a  word  to  each  other,  D.  and 
I  separated.  He  went  to  his  hotel ;  and  I,  acting  on  his 
wish,  looked  after  his  wife. 

"The  consequence  of  this  drama  was  the  separation 
of  the  husband  and  wife,  and  for  me  the  loss  of  the  man 
for  whom  I  had  such  a  deep  friendship.  Quite  recently 
and  indirectly  I  learned  that  Mrs.  D.  was  confined  in 
an  asylum." 


CHAPTER   XV 

TYPTOLOGY 

Nature  and  Description  of  the  Phenomenon 

We  shall  now  study  the  experiments  known  under  the 
name  of  Typtology,  experiments  which  sometimes  give 
rise  to  exceedingly  interesting  phenomena.  Experiments 
in  typtology  are  carried  out  in  the  following  manner : 

Several  persons  seat  themselves  around  a  table,  which 
is  generally  a  small  three-legged  loo-table.  They  place 
their  hands  lightly  on  the  edge  and  wait  to  see  what 
happens. 

If  it  is  desired  to  obtain  any  interesting  result,  the 
experimenters  ought  to  regard  the  matter  seriously, 
abstaining  from  talking,  laughing,  or  joking. 

Each  sitter  should  avoid  pressing  his  hands  too  heavily 
on  the  table,  so  as  to  make  it  tip  over  in  front  of  him  ; 
the  hands  ought  to  rest  lightly  on  the  table,  not  seeking 
to  impart  to  it  any  voluntary  movement,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  not  opposing  any  oscillations,  however  slight,  which 
may  be  felt,  and  to  follow  it  as  passively  as  possible  in  all 
its  movements. 

What  then  happens?  Generally,  after  a  period  of 
waiting,  long  or  short,  the  table  is  felt  to  shake  slightly 
under  the  fingers ;  it  inclines  slowly  towards  one  side, 
whilst  the  opposite  foot  is  raised.  This  movement  is 
more  or  less  marked,  then  the  table  reverts  to  its  normal 
upright  position  on  all  three  feet. 

Usually,  after  this  first  movement,  a  second,  then  a 
third  of  the  same  character  are  quickly  produced ;  finally, 
similar  movements  succeed  each  other  more  or  less  reiju- 
larly,  consisting  in  the  raising  of  one  of  the  feet  of  the 
table,  which  then  falls  back  on  to  the  floor,  causing  a 

106 


TYPTOLOGY  197 

slight   sound,  and   now   commences   the   experiment   in 
typtology,  properly  so  called. 

One  of  the  experimenters  asks  questions,  and  it  is 
agreed  that  the  movements  of  the  table  shall  be  taken  as 
replies,  according  to  the  number  of  raps  given  by  the  foot 
that  is  raised.  One  rap  signifies  "yes";  two  raps  "no"; 
for  other  words  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  are  indicated 
by  the  number  of  raps  given :  one  rap  for  a,  two  raps  for 
b,  three  raps  for  c,  &c. 

Each  word  being  spelled  in  this  manner,  we  proceed 
by  questions  and  answers,  and  a  conversation  may  be 
carried  on. 

What  happens  in  reality  ?     The  movements  of  the 
table  are  most  frequently  determined  by  the  unconscious 
movements  of  the  whole  of  the  experimenters ;  very  often, 
it  must  be  confessed,  the  replies  are  quite  commonplace  andi 
correspond  to  what  the  experimenters  know. 

In  these  cases  it  has  been  found,  for  example,  that  if 
a  certain  reply  to  a  question  is  anticipated,  it  will  always 
be  given  accordingly.  If,  when  the  first  letter  of  a  word 
or  a  name  is  rapped,  a  person  calls  out  a  word  com- 
mencing with  this  letter,  this  word,  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other,  is  spelled  out.  In  the  second  place,  the 
replies  are  always  given  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of 
the  people  around  the  table ;  they  are  the  reflections  of 
their  thoughts,  their  inclinations,  and  their  preferences. 

But  there  is  also  another  form,  which  is  of  far  greater 
interest.  Among  the  persons  at  the  table  there  may  be  a 
sensitive  who,  unconsciously,  directs  all  the  movements 
of  the  table ;  the  others  then  only  follow  the  movement 
due  to  the  impulse  thus  given. 

This  sensitive  may  then  give  replies  which  only  exist 
in  his  sub-conscious  mind,  and  of  which,  in  consequence, 
his  normal  consciousness  is  absolutely  ignorant.  In  this 
case,  the  phenomena  become  much  more  interesting ; 
because  we  know  how  much  more  extended  the  sub-con- 
sciousness is  than  the  normal  consciousness,  how  much 
knowledge  it  possesses  which  astonishes  us,  what  a  multi- 
plicity of  facts  it  contains.     Very  often  some  of  the  more 


198  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

surprising  phenomena  are  due  to  the  revelation  of  sub- 
conscious knowledge,  the  origin  of  which  we  search  for  in 
vain  unless  some  fortuitous  circumstance  puts  us  on  the 
track  and  shows  us  how  it  may  have  penetrated  into  the 
subject's  mind. 

But  more  than  this,  the  subject  may  possess  peculiar 
abnormal  faculties,  and,  without  anticipating  here  what 
may  be  the  nature  of  these  special  faculties,  the  subject 
then  becomes  what  is  called  a  "  medium." 

One  of  the  special  faculties  which  the  subject  may 
possess  is  that  of  lucidity.  We  have  studied  this  in  a 
previous  chapter,  and  we  have  seen  that  typtology  is  the 
usual  method,  the  favourite  means  by  which  the  faculty 
of  lucidity  is  manifested  ;  but,  by  others,  this  lucidity  is 
manifested  indifferently  by  all  methods,  of  which  typto- 
logy is  only  one.  That  is  why,  in  many^  cases,  we  find 
typtology  mingled  with  automatic  writing,  hallucinatory 
vision,  &c.,  and  these  different  processes  succeed  and 
complete  each  other,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  a  more  definite 
communication,  which  is  the  complete  manifestation  of 
the  subject's  faculty  of  lucidity. 

We  may  here  note  that  the  majority  of  experiments  in 
typtology  emanate  from  circles  which  attribute  to  them  a 
spirit  origin.  In  the  authentic  accounts  which  we  shall 
here  quote  we  shall  keep  to  the  exact  expressions  used  by 
their  authors,  while  only  assigning  to  them  a  documentary 
value. 

Among  the  facts  related  in  typtological  communica- 
tions, which  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  sub-consciousness 
of  the  subject,  the  following  very  curious  one  is  quoted  by 
Professor  Max  Selling  in  Psychisclie  Studien  for  Decem- 
ber 1907. 

It  is  a  remarkable  story  of  an  elderly  lady,  wlio  was 
induced  in  a  most  singular  mamier  to  interest  herself  m 
another  person.  In  a  spiritistic  seance  with  a  friend  (in 
December  190G)  a  deceased  relative  manifested  and  stated 
that  Richard  Wagner  (for  whom  this  lady  had  a  great 
admiration)  desired  that  she  should  interest  herself  in  a 
young  tenor  named  E.  (the  full  name  being  given).     To 


TYPTOLOGY  199 

all  the  questions  addressed  to  the  spirit  on  this  subject 
only  one  reply  was  given,  that  the  singer  was  at  Erfurt, 
and  that  he  had  been  discovered  in  a  chimney.  This 
lady,  who  lived  a  long  way  from  Erfurt,  and  knew  neither 
the  town  nor  any  one  there,  procured  lirst  of  all  the 
address  of  a  musical  society  there  and  inquired  if  a  singer 
of  this  name  was  known ;  she  was  told  that  the  person  in 
question  was  tenor  at  the  opera-house  of  the  town.  Armed 
with  this  knowledge,  the  lady  resolved  to  write  to  the 
singer  and  ask  him  to  visit  her.  He  only  accepted  the 
invitation  after  the  third  letter,  because  he  did  not  know 
how  to  reconcile  the  pressing  invitation  with  the  reticence 
shown  in  the  letters.  When,  in  telling  the  story  of  his 
career,  he  stated  that  he  had  been  a  chimney  repairer  and 
that  his  voice  was  discovered  when  he  was  singing  a  song 
during  his  work,  the  two  ladies  looked  at  him  with  sur- 
prise ;  the  enigma  of  the  chimney  was  solved  in  the  most 
simple  manner.  It  was  clear  that  the  protection  of  the  old 
lady  would  be  very  useful  to  him  in  regard  to  his  future, 
and,  as  he  had  a  Wagnerian  voice,  the  communication 
supposed  to  emanate  from  Wagner  had  a  basis  of  reality. 

The  following  is  a  case  which  we  reproduce  from 
Light.  We  know  that  seances  of  the  character  described 
were  frequently  held  at  General  X.'s  house,  and  we  there- 
fore believe  the  following  account  to  be  correct.  The 
General's  wife  writes : — 

"During  the  year  1895  my  husband,  General  X.,  was 
in  garrison  at  T.  We  decided,  by  way  of  amusement,  to 
attempt  some  seances,  with  the  assistance  of  several 
officers  and  two  ladies. 

"  We  hardly  knew  how  to  set  to  work,  although,  by 
a  strange  concourse  of  circumstances,  we  all  knew  some- 
thing of  magnetism.  Three  of  the  gentlemen,  under  my 
influence,  served  as  mediums.  Captain  J.,  an  artillery 
officer,  obtained  the  most  marvellous  physical  manifesta- 
tions. We  all  soon  became  serious  investigators,  and 
during  nineteen  seances  we  were  fortunate  in  witnessing 
important  spiritistic  phenomena. 


200  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"In  October  1885  General  X.,  at  his  own  request,  was 
appointed  to  A,  For  several  days  we  were  in  great  con- 
fusion, owing  to  the  packing  and  removal.  My  husband, 
all  his  things  being  in  disorder,  thought  that  a  wardrobe, 
which  would  be  the  last  thing  to  be  removed,  would  be  a 
safe  and  convenient  place  in  which  to  leave  an  old  green 
portfolio,  which  contained  some  shares  representing  a 
large  sum,  as  well  as  GOOO  francs  in  bank-notes,  which  he 
had  set  aside  for  the  expenses  of  the  journey.  Unfor- 
tunately, having  a  key  of  my  wardrobe,  he  completely 
forgot  to  tell  me  that  he  had  placed  the  portfolio  there, 
and  thought  that  in  hiding  it  behind  a  pile  of  skirts 
he  had  taken  sufficient  precautions.  Two  or  three  days 
afterwards,  wishing  to  settle  some  accounts,  he  looked 
in  the  wardrobe,  and  found  neither  the  portfolio  nor  its 
contents.  He  was  very  much  upset  by  this  discovery,  and 
sent  for  a  police  officer.  We  searched  all  over  the  house, 
and  all  its  inhabitants  became  upset  and  very  unhappy. 
Nothing  was  found,  and  as  the  search  was  fruitless, 
General  X.  proposed  to  hold  a  seance  on  the  subject. 
As  our  house  was  denuded  of  furniture,  we  asked  Major 
H.  and  his  wife  (who  were  to  follow  us  to  A.  later  on)  to 
let  us  hold  it  in  their  rooms.  Both  were  members  of 
our  circle ;  unfortunately,  three  other  investigators  were 
absent,  and  so  it  was  only  a  very  small  company  that  met 
that  evening  in  Mrs.  H.'s  drawing-room.  The  members 
present  were  General  X.  and  myself.  Major  and  Mrs.  H., 
Captain  T.  (medium).  Lieutenant  George  L.,  and  a  second, 
and  very  important,  medium,  my  former  lady's-maid, 
Augustine. 

"  The  story  of  this  medium  is  as  follows : 
"  She  had  been  in  my  service  for  four  years.  By 
chance,  I  discovered  her  marvellous  magnetic  and 
mediumistic  power ;  but  my  doctor  advised  me  to  send 
her  away,  because  her  presence  took  away  all  my  strength. 
Havino-  heard  of  the  loss  wo  had  sustained,  and  knowinyr 
that  three  members  of  the  circle  were  absent,  she  modestly 
oftered  to  join  us,  and  we  had  much  pleasure  in  accepting. 
The  seance  commenced  about  half-past  eight.     We  were  all 


TYPTOLOGY  201 

seated  around  a  large  circular  table,  and,  the  lights  being 
extinguished,  we  joined  hands  in  silence.  After  a  few 
minutes  the  table  began  to  tremble  and  to  move  as  though 
there  had  been  an  earthquake.  It  then  rocked  violently 
from  side  to  side,  and  began  to  rap  on  the  floor. 

"  My  husband  asked  :  '  Who  is  there  ? '  and  the  reply 
was  :  '  Mrs.  X.'s  guide.' 

" '  Will  you  help  us  ? ' 

" '  Yes.     What  do  you  want  ? ' 

" '  We  wish  to  know  if  we  can  find  our  portfolio  ? ' 

" '  It  is  not  lost.' 

" '  What  has  become  of  it  ? ' 

" '  Taken,  stolen.' 

" '  By  whom  ? ' 

"  '  Three  thieves ;  lady's-maid,  coachman,  and  seam- 
stress.' 

"  '  How  did  they  do  it  ? ' 

" '  The  day  before  yesterday,  Mrs.  X.  asked  her  maid 
to  put  some  handkerchiefs  in  her  wardrobe ;  Mrs.  X.  was 
dressing,  but  the  door  of  the  wardrobe  hid  the  maid  from 
view.  She  found  it,  slipped  it  under  her  apron,  and 
hastened  to  the  linen  room,  where  the  seamstress  was 
mending  the  linen.  They  came  to  an  understanding. 
When  she  went  home  in  the  evening,  the  seamstress  took 
the  portfolio  with  her  and  entrusted  it  to  her  lover.' 

" '  How  did  the  coachman  become  mixed  up  in  it  ? ' 

" '  Your  maid  is  a  widow  with  four  children,  and  though 
ten  years  older  than  Louis,  she  is  greatly  in  love  with 
him.  They  are  engaged.  She  thought  that  money  would 
compensate  for  her  years,  and  that  the  theft  would  bind 
him  to  her,  so  that  she  told  him  all  and  made  him  her 
accomplice.  Tell  them  that  you  know  all :  turn  them 
out  of  doors.' 

"  '  Good !     But  how  shall  we  get  back  the  money  ? ' 

"  '  This  evening !  This  evening !  Louis,  the  coach- 
man, who  is  a  soldier,  remembers  what  the  police  officer 
said  aloud :  Where  a  civilian  would  get  off  with  five  years' 
penal  servitude,  a  poor  soldier  gets  ten.  The  thieves  are 
now  at  daggers  drawn.' 


202  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"Here  Captain  T.  jumped  up  and  cried  out: 

"  '  Stop !     Stop  !     I  see  them.' 

"  We  all  asked  :  '  Whore  ?     Who  ? ' 

"  The  table  rapped  out :  '  Let  him  speak.' 

"  The  captain  continued  with  emotion : 

'"I  see  Mrs.  X.'s  bedroom.  It  is  brilliantly  lighted. 
There  are  three  people  there :  two  women  and  a  man. 
They  are  looking  all  about  the  room.  They  are  quarrelling. 
They  are  very  angry.  Oh  !  They  have  it  with  them.  The 
man  is  frightened.  What  are  they  doing  ?  They  are 
turning  the  sheets  and  counterpanes  upside  down.  Then 
they  put  them  back  again  in  their  places.  Now  they  go 
to  the  windows  close  to  the  wardrobe.' 

"  Augustine  called  out  excitedly : 

"  '  I  see  that.  I  see  Mrs.  X.'s  bedroom.  Oh,  but  you 
are  mistaken,  sir.  There  are  four  people  in  the  room,  two 
men  and  two  women.  Go  out !  Go  out !  What  are  you 
doing  in  Mrs.  X.'s  bedroom?  Oh  look!  They  have 
brought  one  of  those  Austrian  black  cane  chairs  from  the 
General's  dressing-room.  They  are  dragging  it  up  to  the 
wardrobe.  What  are  they  going  to  put  on  the  top  of  the 
wardrobe  ?     Take  away  that  chair.' 

"  The  table  replied  : 

" '  They  want  to  put  it  in  a  place  where  you  can  find 
it.  They  know  that  you  are  our  friends.  They  know  that 
you  are  consulting  us.  No  doubt  they  know  all  about  your 
seances.' 

"  Captain  T.,  in  a  bewildered  manner,  said : 

"'Let  me  get  hold  of  the  villains.     I  will  strike  them.' 

"  Here  the  valiant  captain  seized  a  stick  lying  near  to 
him,  and,  leaning  on  the  table,  brandished  it  in  the  air 
in  a  savage  manner,  the  other  members  of  the  group 
surreptitiously  lighting  some  matches,  looked  on  in 
silence. 

"  Captain  :  '  They  are  leaving  the  room.' 

"  Augustine :  '  Oh  !  They  are  going  out  one  after  the 
other,  in  single  file,  through  the  little  door  which  leads 
into  the  General's  dressing-room.  All  is  dark.  We  cannot 
see  anything  more.' 


TYPTOLOGY  203 

"  Table :  '  Don't  be  afraid.     It  is  on  the  top  shelf  of  the 
cupboard.' 

"  General :  '  What  cupboard  ? ' 
"  Table :  '  Go  to  the  house.' 

"  All :  '  Yes.  Let  us  all  go  with  you.  Let  us  start.' 
"  Table  :  '  No  !  The  General  and  Mrs.  X.  only ;  no  one 
else.  You  can  all  go  to-morrow  morning  as  early  as  you 
like.  Let  General  and  Mrs.  X.  start  quickly.  The 
maid  will  meet  them  and  ask  for  news.  Tell  her  all  is 
right,  but  we  shall  know  nothing  before  to-morrow.  Then 
lock  your  doors  and  search  for  the  portfolio.' 
" '  Where  ? ' 

*"  It  is  on  the  top  shelf  of  the  cupboard.  Good  night ! 
Good  night ! ' 

"  Then  the  table  was  raised  almost  up  to  the  ceiling, 
slowly  descended,  inclined  before  each  member  separately, 
and  then  became  again  a  common,  simple,  solid  and  sense- 
less piece  of  furniture. 

"  We  insisted,  but  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  a  single 
word  more.  We  returned  home  in  a  very  nervous  and 
restless  condition.  As  soon  as  we  were  alone,  with  the 
doors  locked  and  bolted,  we  examined  the  bed.  Yes,  it 
seemed  somewhat  disordered  and  as  if  some  strange  fingers 
had  touched  it,  but  beside  the  wardrobe,  instead  of  one  of 
the  pretty  white  Venetian  chairs,  which  formed  part  of  the 
furniture  of  my  room,  there  stood  there,  forgotten,  the 
identical  Austrian  black  cane  chair,  which  the  two 
mediums  had  seen  at  the  seance.  I  jumped  upon  it. 
There  was  nothing  on  the  top  of  the  wardrobe  ;  nothing 
inside  it ;  nothing  in  or  on  the  bed.  Somewhat  frightened, 
we  went  out,  one  after  the  other,  through  the  little  door 
which  led  into  my  husband's  dressing-room,  and  there  a 
chair  was  missing.  In  the  dressing-room  was  a  large 
cupboard  let  into  the  wall,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  in  which  my  husband  kept  his  hats, 
gloves,  ties,  and  handkerchiefs.  The  police  had  searched  it 
from  top  to  bottom,  and  on  going  out  some  hours  before,  the 
General  had  taken  from  it  his  gloves  and  a  handkerchief. 
"  I  sprang  at  this  cupboard,  opened  wide  the  massive 


204  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

door,  and  there,  on  the  top  shelf,  resting  on  some  ties,  was 
the  object  of  our  search. 

"  We  opened  it.  Nothing  had  been  taken :  nothing  at 
at  all,  not  even  the  six  thousand  francs,  the  identity  of 
which  could  never  have  been  established,  because  they 
were  bank-notes,  and  it  goes  without  saying  that  we  did 
not  know  the  numbers  of  these  notes. 

"  I  have  purposely  abridged  the  account  of  this  memor- 
able seance,  the  two  examples  of  clairvoyance  being 
naturally  the  most  interesting  fact. 

"  Mrs.  (General)  X." 

It  will  be  noticed  in  this  case  that  the  phenomenon  of 
lucidity  with  hallucinatory  vision  is  mixed  up  with  the 
phenomenon  of  typtology — this  is  frequently  the  case : 
direct  lucidity  and  automatic  writing  often  supplement 
the  typtological  communications,  a  fact  which  shows  that 
we  have  a  warrant  for  ranging  these  diiferent  cases  in  the 
general  category  of  phenomena  of  lucidity. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

TYPTOLOGY  {continued) 

Experiments 

I  GIVE  several  cases,  the  authenticity  of  which  is  guaranteed 
by  Dr.  Vidal,  who  has  also  given  me  particulars  of  other 
experiments  of  the  same  kind  which  he  has  himself  wit- 
nessed. I  have  restricted  myself  to  the  following,  which 
are  the  most  important  and  sufficiently  demonstrative. 

Table — Case  of  M.  Rouillon 

I  resume  here  the  unique  experiments,  in  the  course 
of  which  we  witnessed  facts  which,  however  unlikely  and, 
at  present,  hardly  explicable,  are  none  the  less  perfectly 
true.  One  evening,  in  September  1893,  when  at  a  "  table- 
turning  "  seance,  the  idea  came  to  me  to  ask  the  table  to 
give  by  the  method  of  raps  denoting  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  the  name  of  the  saint  corresponding  to  a  given 
day.  The  name  was  unknown  to  every  one  present,  and 
there  was  no  calendar  at  hand.  The  table  rapped  out, 
"Monica."  On  proceeding  to  verify,  this  was  found  to 
be  correct.  Another  experiment  of  the  same  kind  was 
successful  at  this  seance ;  after  that  and  on  the  following 
days,  we  obtained  nothing.  Nevertheless,  I  had  been 
struck  by  the  replies  rapped  out  on  the  table,  and  I  often 
thought  of  them. 

Towards  the  end  of  October  1893, 1  discussed  this  ques- 
tion with  M.  Vidal,  principal  of  the  college  at  Limoges. 
He  was  incredulous,  and  replied,  "Until  I  have  seen  I 
will  not  believe."  It  was  agreed  that  we  should  arrange 
to  hold  a  seance,  which  took  place  at  the  College,  in  the 
room  of  M.  Loze,  bursar.     The  good  faith  of  the  persons 


206  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

present  is  beyond  doubt,  and,  moreover,  I  have  obtained 
numerous  similar  results  at  home  with  my  two  children, 
Alice  and  Helene,  aged  ten  and  thirteen  years. 

Here  is  the  report  of  our  experiments,  according  to 
full  notes  taken  at  the  time. 


Seance  held  October  28,  1893 

M.  Vidal,  his  sons  Etienne  and  Marcel,  MM.  Loze  and 
Rouillon,  were  seated  round  the  table.  They  "  formed  a 
chain"  with  their  hands  placed  on  the  edge  of  the 
table. 

After  about  thirty-five  minutes  movements  began  to 
occur.  I  asked  the  name  given  on  the  calendar  for 
June  12th.  We  were  all  of  us  ignorant  of  this  (as  was 
always  the  case  at  our  seances).  The  calendar  was  on  a 
table-desk,  three  feet  from  us,  resting  against  the  only 
lamp  which  lighted  the  room,  and  thus  acted  as  a  screen 
for  us ;  this  calendar  showed  six  months  on  each  side : 
at  the  time  of  the  question  the  side  showing  the  first  six 
months  was  turned  towards  the  lamp,  and  none  of  us 
could  see  it.  The  reply  came,  "Trinity."  We  looked 
and  found  this  to  be  correct. 

I  withdrew  from  the  circle.  The  four  remaining 
sitters  each  placed  one  hand  on  the  table,  and  did  not 
form  a  chain. 

Question.  What  is  the  name  for  January  2nd  ? 

Answer.  Basil  (correct). 

Q.  What  is  the  name  for  September  2nd  ? 

A.  Firmin. 

"  I  looked  at  the  calendar,  which  was  placed  so  that  the 
month  of  September  was  in  the  dark.  The  answer  was 
inaccurate.  M.  Loze  remarked  that  Firmin  is  in  the 
month  of  September,  that  it  is  written  in  large  letters,  and 
that  there  is  a  "2"  in  the  date  (25th).  We  replaced  the 
calendar  with  the  side  showing  the  second  half  year 
towards  the  light. 

M.  Vidal  asked,  "  What  is  the  name  on  December  5th  ? " 

A.  "Sabas." 


TYPTOLOGY  207 

This  name  was  quite  unknown  to  any  of  us.  We  were 
astonished,  and  thought  it  was  a  failure,  simply  a  chance 
combination  of  letters.  We  looked  at  the  calendar,  and 
found  Sabas  at  the  date  indicated. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  seance  all  present  signed  the 
report  establishing  the  reality  of  these  facts. 

Seance  of  October  30,  1893 

Held  in  M.  Loze's  room  at  the  College.  There  were 
seated  round  the  table :  Messrs.  Etienne  Vidal,  Loze, 
Martin,  tutor  at  the  College,  and  Duris,  tutor. 

The  conditions  were  the  same  as  at  the  previous  seance, 
no  one  either  in  the  room  or  around  the  table  knowing 
the  answers  to  the  following  questions  which  were  put 
by  M.  Vidal,  who  seemed  to  have  the  greatest  influence 
over  the  table. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  January  lith  ? 

A.  Hilary  (correct). 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  February  21st  ? 

A.  Pepin  (correct). 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  January  2Sth  ? 

A.  Charlemagne  (correct). 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  December  27th  ? 

A.  Innocents. 

There  was  here  an  error  of  one  day.  The  name 
"  Innocents  "  occurs  on  December  28th. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  May  16th  ? 

A.  Cyriac. 

This  was  an  error  of  months.  Cyriac's  name  occurs 
on  March  16th. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  on  May  26th  ? 

A.  Clet. 

Another  error  of  months.  The  name  Clet  is  on 
April  26th. 

The  following  is  still  more  curious. 

Abdon  was  told  us  as  the  name  for  July  30th. 

This  name  did  not  occur  on  the  calendar,  either  at 
this  date  or  any  other.     But  in  the  evening,  when  in  the 


208  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

bursar's  office,  I  saAv  a  calendar  hanging  up  on  the  wall, 
and  found  on  July  30th  the  word  "  Abdon."  Similar  things 
have  happened  several  times  in  the  course  of  my  experi- 
ments with  my  two  children.  To  find  the  name  denoted 
by  the  table  we  have  sometimes  had  to  consult  a  dic- 
tionary or  another  calendar.  The  name  dictated  through 
the  table  always  agreed  with  the  date  fixed  by  us. 


Seance  held  January  3,  1894 

Held  at  my  house.  There  were  no  strangers  present. 
My  daughter  Alice  (aged  ten)  and  myself  were  alone  at  the 
table,  and  were  the  only  people  in  the  room.  I  shuffled, 
like  a  pack  of  cards,  the  thirty-one  sheets  for  January  1894, 
which  I  had  taken  off  a  loose-leaf  calendar,  the  printed 
side  turned  downwards  away  from  our  sight.  Alice  carried 
the  packet  to  a  distance.  She  looked  straight  into  my 
eyes  while  putting  down  the  packet  after  turning  it  over 
quickly.  We  were  both  ignorant  of  what  was  printed  on 
the  top  leaf.  We  then  placed  our  hands  on  the  edge  of 
the  table  (proceeding  exactly  in  the  same  way  on  each 
occasion).  We  asked  for  the  number  on  the  sheet  of 
which  the  printed  side  was  uppermost,  but  hidden  from 
our  sight  by  some  object,  or  else  out  of  the  line  of  vision. 

Out  of  twenty-six  answers  twenty  were  correct. 

2.  I  tore  off  the  365  days  from  the  calendar,  proceed- 
ing as  stated  above,  all  being  mixed — months  as  well  as 
days.  The  packet  was  again  carried  to  a  distance.  We 
did  not  know  the  word  on  the  sheet ;  no  one  could  see  it. 

We  asked  through  the  table  for  the  name  of  the  saint 
on  the  leaf  turned  up.  Four  questions  produced  four 
accurate  replies,  giving  the  following  names : — 

Agatha, 
Catherine, 
Just, 
Sosthenes. 

My  children  and  myself  have  often  repeated  similar 
experiments  with  equal  success,  during  a  period  of  twelve 


TYPTOLOGY  209 

days,  after  which  these  phenomena  became  gradually 
fewer,  until  they  ceased  altogether.  We  have  often  tried 
new  experiments  since,  but  have  not  obtained  anything. 

My  two  little  daughters  are  very  healthy,  gentle,  and 
timid  in  character.  They  have  never  been  hypnotised  or 
magnetised,  and  are  not  at  all  somnambulistic. 

Here  are  two  curious  experiments,  of  a  truly  fantastical 
character,  dating  from  the  same  period. 

One  evening  I  asked  my  elder  daughter  to  place  the 
tips  of  her  fingers  of  one  hand  only  in  the  middle  of  a 
thick  top  of  a  solid  walnut  dining-table,  weighing  at  least 
fifty-five  pounds.  The  room  was  not  lighted,  but  the 
window,  the  shutters  not  being  closed,  gave  sufficient  light 
to  enable  us  to  distinguish  objects.  I  myself  placed  my 
hands  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  but  avoided  exerting  the 
slightest  pressure.     My  child  and  myself  were  alone. 

I  said,  "  If  there  is  here  an  intelligent  force,  will  it 
manifest  itself  by  raising  the  table  three  times  ? "  Immedi- 
ately to  my  great  astonishment  the  table  was  raised  on  two 
legs  to  a  height  of  from  six  to  eight  inches,  and  three  times 
fell  back  with  a  noise.  The  experiment  was  three  times 
repeated  with  equal  success. 

I  finally  said,  "  Turn  the  table  upside  down."  The 
table  was  immediately  raised,  inclined  as  though  easily 
lifted  by  a  strong  hand,  and  fell  heavily  with  its  edge  on 
the  floor. 

I  remember  that  during  this  experiment  I  recom- 
mended my  daughter  to  pay  attention  to  the  movements 
of  the  table,  so  that  she  should  not  get  hurt.  I  should 
add  that  my  child,  even  if  she  had  the  will,  is  very  deli- 
cate and  quite  unable  to  produce  movements  of  such 
violence,  and  I  could  see  in  the  semi-darkness  along  her 
body  the  line  of  her  unoccupied  arm. 

The  following  experiment  was  made  on  January  13, 
1894,  in  M.  Loze's  room  at  the  College.  I  quote  from  a 
letter  which  I  sent  on  January  21st  to  Professor  Richet, 
which  contains  an  exact  account  of  it. 

"  We  made  some  new  experiments  in  psychic  force  a 
week  ago.    I  have  kept  in  mind  one  prominent  fact  which, 

o 


210  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

after  several  days'  deliberation,  I  have  decided  to  com- 
municate to  you. 

"  There  were  round  the  table  Messrs.  E.  Vidal,  Loze, 
and  myself.  Without  any  preliminary  question  the  table 
dictated  : 

"  '  Jeanne  Eymery.' 

"  '  Are  you  dead  ? ' 

"  '  Yes.' 

" '  Where  ? ' 

" '  Barnabe.' 

"  '  What  caused  your  death  ? ' 

" '  Murdered.' 

"  '  By  whom  ? ' 

" '  My  husband.' 

" '  When  ? ' 

"'January  10,  1894.' 

" '  Was  your  husband  arrested  ? ' 

"  '  Yes.' 

" '  Where  is  he  ? ' 

<«  <  Perigueux  Prison.' 

"  We  regarded  this  as  a  joke,  and  expressed  our 
astonishment  at  the  role  of  the  unconsciousness  which  is 
capable  of  forging  stones  out  of  nothing,  and  did  not  even 
try  to  verify  these  strange  lucubrations. 

"  That  evening  at  supper  M.  Vidal  asked  his  son  : 

"  '  Well,  did  you  get  anything  ? ' 

"  M.  E.  Vidal  laughingly  replied  : 

"  '  Oh,  nothing.  We  had  a  visit  from  some  one  named 
Jeanne  Eymery,  who  was  murdered  by  her  husband,'  &c. 

"  Mme.  Vidal  exclaimed  : 

" '  But  that  was  in  to-day's  Petite  Gironde.' 

"  M.  E.  Vidal  was  astonished  when  he  read  the  full 
account  in  the  newspaper,  and  went  in  search  of  M.  Loze 
and  acquainted  him  with  this  strange  discovery. 

"  I  send  you  the  newspaper  in  question. 

"  Your  first  idea  will  no  doubt  be  that  some  one  had 
read  or  learned  in  some  way  the  facts  so  strangely  re- 
ported. This  was  not  so,  and  our  three  signatures  are 
appended  as  testimony  to  our  joint  assertion." 


TYPTOLOGY  211 

From  information  which  I  wrote  for  to  the  Governor 
of  Trelissac,  to  which  Barnabe  is  attached,  as  well  as  that 
from  the  Secretary  of  Jeanne  Eymery's  native  commune, 
it  appears  that  her  only  Christian  names  were  Marie  and 
Fran9oise.  But  it  was  stated  that  her  husband's  name 
was  Jean  Eymery,  and  that  a  wife  often  called  herself 
also  by  the  same  name  as  her  husband.  It  is  true  that 
"  Jeanne "  is  not  "  Jean,"  but  we  may  have  added  the 
letter  "  E  "  which  commences  the  surname  to  the  Chris- 
tian name  Jean,  which  would  give  it  the  pronunciation 
of  J  eanne,  but  with  one  letter  short  in  the  spelling  of  the 
word.  There  was  thus  no  contradiction  on  any  point 
between  the  communication  through  the  table  and  the 
facts  in  the  newspaper. 

On  Christmas  eve,  1893,  M.  Loze,  bursar  at  Limoges 
College,  invited  his  friend,  M,  Etienne  Vidal,  to  come  into 
his  room  and  have  a  glass  of  white  wine.  It  was  about 
ten  o'clock,  A  large  wood  fire  was  burning  in  the  fire- 
place, before  which  was  placed  the  small  table  which  held 
a  bottle  and  a  plate.  M.  Vidal  had  his  forearm,  and 
M.  Loze  his  elbow,  on  the  top  of  the  small  table.  The 
conversation  turned  on  quite  other  things  than  experi- 
mental psychism. 

Suddenly  M,  Vidal  felt  the  table  rising,  once,  then 
twice,  and  with  such  force  that  they  only  just  had  time 
to  clear  it. 

"  Hold,  hold,"  said  M,  Vidal ;  "  it  seems  as  if  it  wanted 
to  speak.     Wait  a  minute." 

They  placed  their  hands  on  the  table  and  asked : 

"  Who  is  there  ? " 

"  Demi-Siphon." 

"  Dead  or  living  ? " 

"  Dead." 

"  Ah  !  it  is  a  woman.     What  were  you  ? " 

"  Danseiise." 

"Where?" 

"  Moulin-Rouge." 

"  What  caused  your  death  ? " 

"  Accident." 


212  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  What  accident  ? " 

"  Rupture  of  the  perinseum  through  over-straining." 

"  Will  you  give  us  an  interesting  seance  ?  " 

Then  there  occurred  some  exceedingly  curious  pheno- 
mena, but  of  a  special  character  which  can  scarcely  be 
narrated  here ;  and,  finally,  the  table  rapped  out,  "  Slates." 

Some  time  before  M.  Loze  had  produced  tAvo  slates 
with  thick  wooden  frames,  which  he  had  fastened  together 
by  two  copper  screws.  These  were  unscrewed  and  the 
slates  separated.  M.  Loze  cleaned  them  with  a  wet  sponge, 
and  put  them  to  dry  in  front  of  the  fire  in  full  light.  Then 
he  went  to  look  in  a  drawer  for  a  fragment  of  pencil,  and 
placed  it  between  the  two  slates.  M.  Vidal  again  examined 
them  on  both  sides  before  the  lamp  and  in  the  presence  of 
M.  Loze,  who  also  examined  them  carefully,  placed  ono 
over  the  other,  and  fastened  the  screws.  They  were  placed 
flat  on  the  table  without  contact  with  the  hands. 

The  table  rapped  as  though  impatient.  They  asked 
what  was  wanted. 

"  Move  the  lamp  away." 

M.  Loze  carried  the  lamp  to  a  recess  about  two  paces 
away,  from  which  light  still  came ;  the  fire  also  gave  a 
fairly  bright  light.  They  could  easily  have  seen  the  time 
by  a  watch.  During  this  time  M.  Loze  had  not  lost  sight 
of  the  slates  which  remained  on  the  table,  and  were  not 
touched  by  M.  Vidal.     He  said  : 

"Write  something,  and  when  you  have  finished  rap  once." 

The  table  remained  still  for  a  moment,  then  gave  two 
raps,  which  according  to  the  code  signified  "  No." 

"  Is  there  something  which  is  not  right  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"What?" 

"  Hands." 

"  You  want  the  hands  placed  on  the  slates  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

This  was  done,  and  after  a  moment  one  rap  was  heard. 

"  Is  it  finished  ? " 

"  Yes." 

The  lamp  was  brought  back,  and  the  slates  were  un- 


TYPTOLOGY  213 

screwed  by  M.  Vidal,  and  on  one  of  them  were  some  very 
clear  marks,  like  interlaced  figures  of  eight. 

Encouraged  by  this  result  M.  Vidal,  without  rubbing 
anything  out,  screwed  up  the  slates  again  and  replaced 
them  on  the  table.  The  lamp  was  removed.  They  asked 
for  something  more  definite.  The  table  did  not  move. 
They  heard  the  pencil  moving,  and  one  rap  was  struck. 
By  the  light  of  the  lamp  M.  Vidal  unscrewed  the  slates, 
and  on  one  of  them  saw  some  characters  which  he  could 
not  at  first  make  out. 

Interrogated,  the  table  replied :  "  Reversed." 

M.  Vidal  then  recognised  an  "  L,"  and  M.  Loze,  in  turn, 
an  initial  which  he  sometimes  used  when  signing  his  name. 
Without  looking  at  the  slate  he  took  a  thin  piece  of  paper 
and  traced  the  initial  in  question  ;  then  placing  it  upside 
down  by  the  light  of  the  lamp  he  recognised  the  similarity 
with  the  drawing  on  the  slate.  When  the  latter  was  taken 
to  the  looking-glass  M.  Loze's  signature  became  clearly 
recognisable. 

Without  effacing  anything,  the  slates  were  again  screwed 
up,  and  the  table  was  asked  to  write,  "  as  every  one  did." 

They  heard  the  noise  of  the  pencil  and  one  rap  came. 
The  slates  were  opened  by  M.  Loze,  and  on  one  of  them 
was  written  in  very  clear  characters:  "  Demi-Siphon." 

The  slates  were  again  fastened  by  M.  Loze,  who  asked : 

"  In  one  word,  one  only,  applicable  only  to  yourself, 
what  was  your  mode  of  life  ? " 

They  again  heard  the  noise  of  the  pencil,  and  again 
came  the  single  rap. 

The  slates  were  opened,  and  on  one  of  them  was  legibly 
written  the  word,  "  Vadrouille."  The  writing  was  remark- 
ably clear  and  firm. 

Some  further  questions  were  then  put  to  the  table, 
which  suddenly  stopped  and  refused  to  move. 

Neither  M.  Vidal  nor  M.  Loze  had  ever  heard  of  Demi- 
Siphon,  and  the  name  and  details  were  absolutely  unknown 
and  were  an  enigma  to  them. 

On  the  following  day,  on  relating  their  experience  to 
some  of  their  colleagues,  they  learned  that  some  days 


214  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

previously  the  newspaper  Le  Temps  had  announced  the 
death  of  a  Moulin-Rouge  danseuse,  who  was  known  by  the 
nickname  of  "  Demi-Siphon."  M.  Vidal  told  me  recently 
that  he  did  not  know  whether  the  stated  cause  of  death 
(rupture  of  the  perinasum)  had  been  found  correct.  But  I 
think  I  remember  that  the  information  received  about 
that  time  confirmed  this  statement  also.  During  the 
whole  of  the  evening  on  which  this  seance  was  held 
M.  Vidal  and  M.  Loze  were  alone  in  the  room. 


I 


CHAPTER   XVII 

AUTOMATIC  WRITING   AND   LUCIDITY 

I  SHALL  quote  in  this  chapter  a  case  in  which  lucidity 
was  manifested  through  automatic  writing,  a  procedure 
analogous  to  typtology. 

We  shall  also  see  that  phenomena  of  externalisation 
of  force  first  manifested  themselves  with  the  medium. 
As  I  have,  however,  already  remarked,  these  different 
phenomena  are  often  mixed,  or  succeed  each  other  in 
the  same  seances. 

Automatic  Writing 

In  1881  I  was  at  the  Military  College  at  Florence, 
where  I  was  spending  my  first  year ;  I  was  then  fifteen 
years  of  age. 

In  November  of  that  year,  after  the  death  of  my 
eldest  sister,  my  mother  had  begun  to  study  Spiritism, 
but  I  was  quite  ignorant"  of  this  fact.  On  account  of  the 
great  sorrow  which  this  death  had  caused  the  family,  I 
was  taken  away  from  the  College.  One  day,  having  gone 
to  my  mother  to  ask  her  permission  to  drive  the  horses 
to  Cascines — I  was  then  much  taken  up  with  horses — she 
asked  me  to  stay  with  her  for  a  moment,  and  to  place  my 
hands  on  a  small  table  in  front  of  her. 

I  have  since  learned  that  my  mother,  who  was  not 
at  all  mediumistic,  often  tried  about  this  period,  when 
she  was  alone,  but  could  obtain  no  response. 

On  seeing  me,  the  idea  came  to  her  to  try  with  me, 
without  informing  me  what  she  was  doing.  I  sat  down, 
astonished  and  annoyed  at  her  request,  placed  my  hands 
on  the  table,  and  then  asked  her  why  she  made  me 
do  such  a  thing. 


216  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

My  mother  replied : 

"  It  is  a  physical  experiment  I  am  trying.   Wait  a  little." 

At  the  end  of  a  very  few  moments  I  heard  some  very 
strange  noises  which  came  from  the  interior  of  the  table — 
very  distinct  creakings  and  noises.  I  was  almost  fright- 
ened, and  I  saw  that  my  mother  was  greatly  moved. 
She  said  to  me :  "  Keep  still,  I  will  explain  to  you  pre- 
sently what  this  is,"  and,  to  keep  up  my  patience,  she 
tried  to  make  me  believe  that  the  heat  of  my  hands 
caused  the  table  to  creak.  The  table  rose  and  moved 
about  and  we  followed  it  up  to  a  bureau,  in  the  centre 
of  which  was  a  piece  of  green  cloth.  The  table  touched 
the  bureau,  and  my  mother  said  out  loud,  to  my  great 
astonishment,  as  though  not  speaking  to  me :  "  Can  you 
rap  three  times  in  the  centre  of  the  bureau  under  the 
green  cloth  ? "  She  had  not  finished  the  sentence  before 
three  knocks  sounded  just  under  the  square  of  cloth. 

My  surprise  was  so  great  that  my  mother  gave  me 
the  explanation  of  the  phenomenon,  which  I  simply 
accepted  as  everything  is  accepted  at  that  age.  Just 
at  this  moment  a  gentleman,  one  of  our  friends,  entered, 
and  the  phenomenon  was  immediately  repeated  before 
him ;  it  was  again  repeated  when  my  father  came  in. 

I  tried  this  class  of  mediumship  for  several  weeks ; 
afterwards  automatic  writing  developed  in  me,  and  we 
gave  up  the  table  and  all  those  physical  experiments 
which  may  be  of  great  interest  to  scientists,  but  not  to 
those  who  seek  in  these  phenomena  the  proof  of  the 
survival  of  the  soul.  My  mother  wished  to  have  proof 
of  the  survival  of  her  daughter,  and  we  thought  we  had 
got  it.  I  have  written  automatically  things  which  my 
sister  when  ill  had  said  to  my  mother,  at  the  country 
house  where  her  illness  came  on,  while  I  was  at  Florence 
at  the  Military  College,  which  I  did  not  leave  until  after 
the  death  of  my  sister. 

Other  proofs  came  to  support  this,  and  this  pheno- 
menon had  a  special  character,  in  that  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  personalities  of  whom  I  had  no  know- 
ledge whatever  manifested,  so  to  speak,  through  my  hand- 


I 


AUTOMATIC   WRITING   AND   LUCIDITY     217 

writing,  and  each  time  they  presented  themselves  again, 
it  was  always  with  the  same  style,  the  same  language, 
of  the  same  period,  and  with  the  same  moral  character. 
Automatically,  and  without  knowing  or  understanding 
what  I  had  written,  I  have  rapidly  traced  with  the  pencil, 
in  the  Italian  language  of  the  thirteenth  century,  mystical 
visions  which  have  been  admired  by  our  best  writers ; 
philosophical  and  highly  moral  dialogues  have  resulted 
from  the  numerous  requests  made  by  the  spectators ; 
many  of  these  replies  were  in  modern  language  ;  a  large 
number  of  the  remainder  were  in  the  ancient  dialect, 
debased  Latin,  which  was  the  common  tongue  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  In  these  dialogues  were  developed 
by  degrees  Buddhistic  theories  and  the  quietism  of 
Madame  Guyon. 

Neither  my  mother  nor  myself,  nor  any  one  else 
present,  knew  one  word  of  these  things  or  doctrines. 

I  have  received  writings  relating  to  the  town  of  Badi 
in  Umbria  and  its  neighbourhood ;  small  villages,  almost 
unknown,  were  mentioned.  Names  of  ancient  Italian 
families,  now  extinct,  have  been  mentioned  in  relation 
to  anecdotes  unknown  to  us,  but  which  always  had  an 
air  of  truth.  We  have  often  verified  the  accuracy  of  these 
names  in  the  archives  of  Florence  and  Siena.  These 
anecdotes,  these  names  of  persons,  towns,  and  villages, 
never  came  pointlessly,  but  always  as  the  result  of  some 
previous  conversation  in  which  I  had  taken  no  part. 
I  was  always  like  a  passive  instrument,  unconscious, 
somewhat  like  a  telephone,  but  never  in  trance. 

Disagreeable  occurrences  sometimes  happened  in  con- 
nection with  my  unconscious  writing.  I  will  relate  one 
that  was  particularly  unpleasant. 

My  father,  in  1883,  painted  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  B.  M. 
(I  do  not  give  the  name  in  full,  because  the  story  in 
question  might  be  distressing  to  her),  an  American  lady, 
well  known  because  of  her  position,  high  intelligence,  and 
philanthropy. 

When  she  sat  for  her  portrait  the  conversation  turned 
upon  Spiritism,  and  she  learned  that  I  was  what  is  called 


218  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

a  writing  medium.  She  asked  my  father  to  allow  her 
to  be  present  at  a  seance ;  this  greatly  embarrassed  him, 
because  he  knew  that  my  mother  strongly  objected  to 
admitting  any  stranger  to  our  meetings,  which  were  no 
longer  experiments,  but  a  time  for  meditation  and  private 
consolation  for  herself.  My  mother,  in  fact,  asked  my 
father  to  decline  a  visit  from  this  lady,  but  the  latter 
insisted  so  strongly  and  pressingly  that  he  was  absolutely 
compelled  to  satisfy  her. 

My  mother  asked  a  friend,  a  lady  who  spoke  English 
very  well,  to  be  kind  enough  to  act  as  interpreter,  and  we 
met  one  evening  at  our  house  to  try  to  evoke  Mrs.  B.  M.'s 
husband  who  had  been  dead  for  several  years. 

Whilst  sitting  for  her  portrait  Mrs.  B.  M.  had  told  my 
father  of  the  great  sorrow  her  husband's  death  had  caused 
her,  the  care  she  had  taken  in  carrying  out  his  last  wishes 
and  his  smallest  desires,  both  with  regard  to  the  education 
of  the  children  and  in  administering  his  estate,  and  she 
expressed  her  satisfaction  at  having  thus  carried  out  her 
duty  towards  the  memory  of  her  husband. 

That  was  all  we  knew  of  the  family  with  which  we 
were  not  acquainted  before  Mrs.  B.  M.  came  to  my  father's 
studio.  In  the  evening  previous  to  the  seance  with  this 
lady,  my  mother  had  asked  me  to  think  (that  is  what  Ave 
say  instead  of  "  evoke,"  as  many  others  say,  and  it  is  more- 
over, correct,  because  it  is  almost  always  sufficient  for  me 
to  think  in  order  to  secure  the  personality  requested)  of 
one  of  her  uncles,  who,  she  believed,  could  help  her  in  this 
difficulty,  to  obtain  something  which  would  satisfy  this 
newcomer  to  our  seances  ;  it  was  like  a  preparatory  seance, 
in  order  to  avoid  a  complete  failure,  but  we  could  only 
obtain  indefinite  promises. 

The  following  evening  Mrs.  B.  M.  came  to  my  mother's 
drawing-room  at  nine  o'clock  precisely. 

Mme.  P.,  the  interpreter,  was  present,  as  well  as  my 
father  and  his  friend,  a  lawyer,  M,  C.  I  was  sitting  at  a 
table,  pencil  in  hand,  and  with  some  blank  paper  in  front 
of  me.  After  a  very  few  minutes  my  pencil  wrote  the 
following  words  in  French : — 


1 


AUTOMATIC   WRITING   AND   LUCIDITY     219 

"  II  y  a  imc  inimiti^,  que  jc  ne  puis  compreudre,  entrc 
Madame  et  feu  son  mari."  ("  Tliere  is  an  enmity,  which 
I  cannot  understand,  between  Madame  and  her  late 
husband.") 

My  mother,  convinced  as  she  was,  like  all  of  us,  of  the 
perfect  harmony  of  this  family,  was  disturbed  at  these 
words,  pretended  not  to  understand,  in  order  to  avoid 
repeating  this  phrase,  and  again  asked  if  it  was  possible  to 
enter  into  communication  with  Mrs.  B.  M.'s  husband.  And 
the  pencil  inexorably  repeated  the  phrase : 

"II  y  a  une  inimiti^,  que  je  ne  puis  comprendre,  entre 
Madame  et  feu  son  mari." 

Mme.  P.  told  us  that  Mrs.  B.  M.  wished  to  know  at  all 
costs  what  had  been  written,  and  the  phrase  was  translated 
by  her  into  English. 

None  of  us  will  ever  forget  the  profound  emotion  which 
was  experienced  at  seeing  Mrs.  B.  M.  stand  up,  and,  looking 
very  pale,  cry  out : 

"What!  still!" 

It  was  truly  a  striking  event. 

She  then  explained  in  English  in  a  few  words  to  Mme. 
P.  that  there  had  been  very  serious  disagreements  between 
her  and  her  husband,  but  that  she  believed  death  had 
effaced  all  resentment  in  him  towards  her,  since  she  had 
on  her  part  forgiven  him,  and  had  executed  his  last  wishes 
with  the  utmost  faithfulness. 

My  mother  then  insisted  on  knowing  if  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  have  another  more  favourable  communication. 

My  pencil  traces  this  strange  sentence : 

"  Impossible  ;  he  is  in  Negroland." 

We  were  certainly  quite  mystified  by  this  rebuff,  and 
my  mother  wished  at  any  cost  to  interrupt,  being  much 
perturbed  at  having  to  say  such  a  foolish  thing  to  this 
lady.  But  M.  C.  insisted,  wishing  to  possess  the  key  to 
this  enigma,  and  asked : 

"  Why  do  you  say  he  is  in  Negroland  ? " 

And  the  pencil  wrote : 

"  He  has  a  mission  to  try  and  bring  about  the  abolition 
of  slavery." 


220  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

"  Why  has  he  such  a  mission  ? " 

"  Because  he  is  a  negro." 

My  mother,  very  discouraged  and  losing  all  interest  in 
the  seance  on  receiving  this  unacceptable  explanation,  so 
offensive  to  this  lady,  took  up  the  piece  of  paper  quickly, 
thinking  that  she  was  not  seen,  crumpled  it  in  her  hands, 
and  threw  it  on  the  floor. 

But  Mrs.  B,  M.  had  seen  it,  and  cried  out : 

"  Madame,  you  have  no  right  to  do  that.  What  is 
written  on  it  is  for  me." 

And  she  demanded  the  piece  of  paper  which  was  given 
to  her.  Then  she  straightened  it  out  and  Mme.  P.  read 
what  was  written. 

She  immediately  rose,  appearing  greatly  moved,  wished 
us  "  Good  evening  "  and  left. 

We  were  much  astonished  and  grieved  at  the  impres- 
sion this  lady  had  received.     My  mother  kept  saying  : 

"  It  is  the  first  time  we  have  been  thus  mystified, 
because  the  last  sentence  is  an  ill-timed  joke,  but  the  first 
was  very  true  and  moved  Mrs.  B.  M.  greatly." 

The  following  morning  my  father  had  a  sitting  with 
this  lady.  He  returned  home  for  luncheon,  laughing 
heartily,  and  said  to  my  mother  at  the  top  of  his  voice : 
"  He  was  a  negro  !     He  was  a  negro  ! " 

We  could  not  understand  it.  Then  he  told  us  that 
Mrs.  B.  M.  had  related  her  story  to  him  at  length,  and  said 
that  after  her  marriage  her  family  had  discovered  that  her 
husband  was  of  Indian  origin — that  is  to  say,  a  man  of 
colour.  It  could  scarcely  be  seen,  but  it  was  a  very  great 
mesalliance  for  an  American.  Thence  the  origin  of  this 
enmity  which  lasted  for  life,  but  which  Mrs.  B.  M.  believed 
had  ended  with  death,  because,  she  said,  she  had  carried 
out  all  her  husband's  wishes. 

Other  writings,  obtained  by  automatic  writing,  are 
much  more  interesting  than  those  I  have  quoted,  but 
unfortunately  they  are  in  Italian,  and  the  greater  part  in 
ancient  Italian  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  I  am  not  able 
to  translate  them. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 
TYPTOLOGY  AND  LUCIDITY 

Experiments  of  the  Society  d'Mudes  Psychiques  at  Nancy 

We  will  devote  this  chapter  exclusively  to  a  series  of 
experiments  which  were  made  by  the  Societe  d'Etudes 
Psychiques  at  Nancy,  under  the  direction  of  M.  X.,  a 
member  of  this  Society. 

These  experiments  were  conducted  and  verified  under 
scientific  conditions  which  cause  them  to  be  of  great  value. 
In  order  to  preserve  them  in  their  integrity  we  leave 
them  as  the  author  has  given  them  in  the  original  docu- 
ment  published  m  the  Bulletin  of  the  Societe  d'Etudes 
Psychiques  de  Nancy. 

"  In  the  group  to  which  I  belong  we  have  indulged  in 
the  pastime  of  interviewing  invisible  beings  by  means  of 
the  table  and  writing;  and  we  have  obtained  surprising 
results  which  nine  times  out  of  ten  have  been  verified,  I 
give  attestations  which  will  leave  no  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  can  admit  that  the  experimenters,  whom  I 
assert  to  be  honourable  persons,  were  acting  in  good 
faith. 

The  method  we  employed  was  very  simple.  We  made 
a  choice  among  the  invisible  personalities  who  were  willing 
to  reply  to  us.  We  left  out  those  who  appeared  to  us  not 
to  be  serious,  conscientious,  or  sincere.  To  the  others  we 
put  plain  questions,  the  replies  to  which  could  be  verified. 

We  did  with  them  as  we  should  have  done  with 
living  persons.  We  did  not  ask  them  to  foretell  the 
future,  which  must  be  almost  as  difficult  for  them  as  for 
us.  We  did  not  ask  for  forecasts  about  races,  or  the  win- 
ning number  in  a  lottery,  or  if  the  ministry  would  go  out 

221 


222  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

of  office  before  the  end  of  the  year.  But  we  asked  them 
for  details  as  to  their  past,  the  salient  facts  of  their  earth 
life,  and  the  names  of  people  whom  they  had  known. 

Some  hesitated  to  give  us  these  details :  others  only 
replied  to  part  of  our  questions.  But  some  of  them  gave 
the  information  asked  for,  and  I  will  communicate  their 
replies.  I  will  then  give  the  proof  that  these  replies  are 
in  accord  with  the  facts. 

I  will  commence  with  the  strangest  of  these  communi- 
cations. I  do  not  wish  to  conceal  the  fact  that  at  first  it 
appeared  very  improbable.     It  is  a  real  legendary  tale. 

There  were  five  of  us  at  the  table  :  M.  and  Mile.  G.,  both 
engaged  in  tuition  ;  Mile.  C,  a  perfectly  serious  and  re- 
spectable person ;  the  medium,  very  young,  connected  with 
the  people  of  the  house,  and  myself.  I  know  all  these 
persons  and  can  guarantee  their  perfect  good  faith. 

Bertolf  de  Ghistelles 

After  a  few  moments  the  table  moved,  giving  abrupt 
raps,  following  each  other  two  by  two,  and  the  psychic 
force  was  manifested.  I  asked  the  name  of  the  invisible 
being  that  was  causing  the  table  to  move,  using  the 
alphabet  as  usual.  It  replied  that  its  name  Avas  Bertolf. 
This  unusual  name  interested  us,  and  the  following  is  the 
dialogue  which  ensued. 

Question.  Bertolf  must  be  a  Christian  name.  Have  you 
any  other  name  ? 

Ansiocr.  Bertolf  de  Ghistelles. 

Q.   Were  you  French  ? 

A.  Flemish. 

Q.  Will  you  tell  us  the  name  of  the  locality  where  you 
lived  ? 

A.  Dunkerque. 

Q.   Have  you  been  a  long  time  in  the  Beyond  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.   In  what  year  did  you  die  ? 

A.  In  1081. 

Q.   What  were  you  ? 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  223 

A.  Husband  of  a  Saint. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  that  your  wife  is  honoured  as  a  saint, 
that  she  has  been  canonised  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.   What  was  her  name  ? 

A.  Godeleine  de  Wierfroy.      Can  she  forgive  me  ? 

Q.   You  did  her  harm  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.   You  killed  her  perhaps  ? 

A.  I  had  her  strangled. 

Q.   Why? 

A.  Through  jealousy,  impelled  by  my  unworthy 
mother. 

Q.   Have  you  seen  her  again  ? 

A.  Lady  Mary  has  hidden  her  under  her  mantle. 

Q.   Have  you  found  any  members  of  her  family  ? 

A.  Heinfried  and  his  wife  Ogine,  her  father  and 
mother.     They  have  forgiven  me. 

Q.  Is  the  festival  of  your  wife  celebrated  anywhere  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.   On  what  date  ? 

A.  July  6th.    Her  sweet  name  signifies  Friend  of  God. 

(Some  one  present  remarked  that  "  God  "  in  Flemish 
must  signify  Dieu,  and  asked  if  leine  meant  "friend.") 

The  table  replied,  "  Lief,  friend." 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  ? 

A.  In  Flemish,  Godluf. 

Q.  Did  you  die  in  a  tragic  manner  ? 

A.  No,  in  a  monastery.     I  remained  there  nine  years. 

Q.  To  do  penance  ? 

A.  Yes,  the  Holy  Father  told  me  to  repent. 

Q.  Who  was  Pope  ? 

A.  Urban. 

Q.  Who  reigned  in  France  in  your  lifetime  ? 

A.  Robert,  Henri,  Philippe. 

Q.  Did  you  have  for  suzerain  a  Count  of  Flanders  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  was  he  called  ? 

A.  Guiscard, 


224  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  Are  you  happy  ? 

A.  (Feebly)  Yes. 

Q.  Have  you  suffered  ? 

A.  For  long  centuries. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  of  the  monastery  where  you 
lived  ? 

A.  Vinoca. 

Q.  Was  your  wife  born  in  France  ? 

A.  No. 

Q.  In  what  Province  ? 

A.  Le  Boulonnais. 

None  of  us  had  even  heard  of  Bertolf  or  Godeleine. 
We  consulted  the  calendars,  but  could  not  find  any  saint 
of  this  name. 

Eventually  the  idea  occurred  to  me  to  consult  the 
encyclopaedia  Larousse,  not  in  the  hope  of  finding  the 
name  of  Bertolf,  but  in  order  to  assure  myself  that  the 
sovereigns  he  had  mentioned  had  really  reigned  at  the 
times  stated,  and  I  was  just  coming  to  the  name  of 
Guiscard  when  I  stumbled  across  the  following  article : — 

"  Godelive,  Godelieve,  or  Godeleine  of  Ghistelles  (saint), 
born  near  Boulogne  in  1040,  died  at  Ghistelles  in  1070. 
She  married  Berthold,  Lord  of  Ghistelles,  near  Bruges, 
who,  after  having  subjected  her  to  odious  treatment,  had 
her  strangled  and  thrown  down  a  well. 

"  Berthold  became  a  monk — impressed,  it  is  said,  by 
the  miraculous  cures  effected  by  the  water  from  this  well, 
around  which  a  Benedictine  abbey  was  built  which  was 
afterwards  transferred  to  Bruges. 

"  Godelive  is  specially  honoured  at  Bruges  on  July  6th." 

I  will  not  conceal  the  objection  that  may  be  made. 
It  will  be  said :  "  One  of  the  persons  present  had  read  this 
story  somewhere  and  remembered  it  when  putting  his 
hands  on  the  table.  Then,  by  unconscious  pressure,  he 
directed  the  movements  of  the  table  and  replied  to  your 
questions  without  knowing." 

My  reply  would  be :  "  For  that  it  would  be  necessary 
for  the  person  to  be  in  a  state  of  somnambulism,  which  Avas 
not  the  case  with  any  of  us.     But  I  prefer  to  leave  this 


TYPTOLOGY    AND   LUCIDITY  225 

objection  on  one  side  for  a  moment  and  pass  on  to  another 
case.  The  refutation  will  come  better  presently  in  conjunc- 
tion with  other  cases.     Here  is  another  instance. 


Garcia  Moreno 

The  circle  was  almost  the  same  as  for  the  previous 
communication.  The  spirit  said  his  name  was  Garcia 
Moreno,  and  he  was  born  at  Guyaquil  (South  America). 

Question.  What  was  your  profession  ? 

Answer.  President. 

Q.  President  of  what  ? 

A.  The  Republic  of  Ecuador. 

Q.  At  what  age  did  you  die  ? 

A.  53  years,  Friday,  August  6,  1875.     Dio  ni  muere  ! 

Q.  Why  those  words  ? 

A.  I  spoke  them  as  I  fell.     I  died  a  Christian. 

Q.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  translate  them,  because 
we  do  not  know  Spanish  ? 

A.  They  mean  "  God  does  not  die." 

Q.  Of  what  illness  did  you  die  ? 

A.  (by  violent  raps)  Assassinated  by  Rayo  and  his 
accomplices  in  front  of  the  Government  palace  at  Quito. 

Q.  What  weapon  was  used  ? 

A.  The  machete. 

Q.  What  is  the  machete  ? 

A.  A  Mexican  knife. 

Q.  Are  you  happy  ? 

A.  I  have  caused  the  death  of  some  men. 

Q.  For  what  reason  ? 

A.  To  repress  a  conspiracy. 

Q.  Do  you  regret  it  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Who  was  the  instigator  of  the  conspiracy  you 
repressed  ? 

A.  General  Maldanato. 

Q.  Were  you  alone  when  you  were  assassinated  by  Rayo  ? 

A.  Yes. 

p 


226  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  Is  there  anything  you  can  tell  us  which  will  prove 
to  us  that  you  were  Garcia  Moreno  ? 

A.  If  you  wish  I  will  narrate  a  combat  to  you. 

Q.  Willingly.  Only  it  will  perhaps  take  a  long  time 
by  means  of  the  table.     Will  you  write  this  narrative  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  In  Spanish  ? 

A.  No. 

Q.  You  know  French  sufficiently  ? 

A.  1  have  stayed  in  Paris. 

(We  handed  a  pencil  to  the  medium  and  by  me- 
chanical writing  we  obtained  the  following  account.) 

"  This  naval  combat,  of  which  I  was  the  hero,  is  one  of 
the  most  pleasant  recollections  of  my  existence.  After  a 
treaty  had  been  signed  advantageous  to  my  country,  I 
was  attacked  on  returning  from  a  political  expedition  with 
a  few  companions.  The  vessel  having  been  sunk,  we  took 
possession  of  an  English  vessel.  On  the  refusal  of  the 
captain  we  proposed  to  shoot  him,  and  make  a  winding 
sheet  of  his  flag,  but  he  .  .  .  quickly  gave  in  and  with 
.  .  .  cannon  I  sunk  the  ironclad  Guya.  I  took  posses- 
sion of  Bernadino  and  of  the  schooner.     I  was  the  victor." 

The  words  replaced  by  dots  are  indecipherable  in 
the  text,  but,  in  general,  the  writing  is  clear,  firm,  and 
energetic. 

We  were  curious  enough  to  inquire  from  another  spirit 
concerning  this  Moreno,  who  had  manifested  for  the  first 
time  in  our  seances,  and  we  spoke  to  one  who  frequently 
came  to  us.  This  spirit  replied  as  follows,  still  by  means 
of  the  pencil,  but  in  an  entirely  different  handwriting. 

"  I  know  this  person,  Avho  is  undoubtedly  very  intel- 
lectual. Thanks  to  him  his  country  valiantly  mahitamed 
a  coalition  which  was  terminated  by  an  honourable  treaty. 
He  is  very  learned,  and  is  endowed  with  indomitable 
energy — in  short,  he  is  no  ordinary  man ;  one  can  admire 
and  extol  his  high  qualities.  But,  unhappily,  these  are 
accompanied  by  an  extreme  passion  for  domination,  which 
degenerates  into  cruelty.  He  has  been  charged  with 
several  political  crimes. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  227 

"  Further,  he  is  the  champion  of  the  Church,  and  his 
religious  ideas  have  pushed  his  tendencies  to  extremes." 

Briefly,  the  result  of  these  communications  was  that 
Garcia  Moreno  was  a  man  of  merit,  very  fanatical  in  his 
nature ;  that  he  was  born  at  Guyaquil,  had  been  President 
of  the  Republic  of  Ecuador,  was  assassinated  on  August 
6,  1875,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  by  a  man  named  Rayo, 
assisted  by  several  accomplices,  after  having  shed  blood  in 
repressing  a  conspiracy. 

Now  I  opened  Larousse  again,  and  this  is  what  I  read : — 
"  Moreno  (Gabriel  Garcia),  President  of  Ecuador,  assas- 
sinated at  Quito  in  1875.  Exiled  in  his  youth,  he  went 
to  Paris  and  London,  where  he  studied,  returned  to 
Ecuador,  took  up  the  profession  of  chemist,  married  the 
daughter  of  General  Flores  and  became  chief  of  the 
conservatives  at  Quito.  President  of  the  Republic  from 
1861  to  1865,  and  again  from  1869  to  1875,  he  was 
scheming  to  become  president  again  when  he  was  assas- 
sinated. 

"  He  was  an  able  administrator,  and  carried  out  very 
important  public  works  and  restored  the  finances.  An 
ardent  Catholic,  he  gave  the  Church  sovereign  authority 
and  sent  the  Pope  a  million  francs ;  excited  the  mistrust 
of  the  neighbouring  states,  was  beaten  by  Morquera, 
President  of  New  Grenada,  entered  into  conflict  with 
Peru  and,  having  to  cope  with  several  liberal  insurrec- 
tions, displayed  an  arbitrary  exercise  of  authority  and 
excessive  severity  m  repressing  them." 

It  will  perhaps  be  thought  that  Larousse  played  a  very 
great  part  in  these  verifications,  and  the  sitters  may  be 
supposed  to  have  been  familiar  with  it.  That  is  a  mis- 
take: none  of  them  had  ever  opened  Larousse,  myself 
excepted,  and  I  am  certain  that  I  had  never  seen  these 
biographical  notices  previous  to  my  researches. 

Besides,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  information  given  by 
the  spirit  calling  himself  Garcia  Moreno  is  different  on 
more  than  one  point,  and  more  complete.  In  Larousse 
there  is  no  mention  of  Rayo,  or  of  the  machete,  the  name 
of  a  weapon  which  was  unknown  to  us  until  then. 


228  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  will  be  seen  that  Larousse  was  not 
the  only  source  from  which  we  drew  in  order  to  verify  the 
revelations  which  were  made  in  our  seances. 

On  Sunday,  October  7,  1906,  M.  Thomas,  our  devoted 
and  scrupulous  secretary,  was  present  at  one  of  these 
manifestations.  The  following  is  an  account  of  what  took 
place  in  his  presence. 

Henry  Charles  Montagne 

The  spirit  in  reply  to  our  questions  gave  his  name  as 
Henry  Charles  Montagne,  who  died  ten  years  previously 
at  Nha-Trang  (Annam),  and  had  lived  in  Paris.  I  sum  up 
his  communication  in  the  following  form,  in  order  not  to 
fatigue  the  reader  by  the  repetition  of  questions  which  are 
almost  always  the  same. 

This  spirit  said :  "  I  am  buried  at  Pere-Lachaise.  I 
was  clerk  to  the  Residency  at  Tonkin.  My  father  was 
very  well  known  in  the  literary  world.  His  name  was 
Edouard  Montagne,  and  he  occupied  an  important  position 
in  the  Societe  des  Gens  de  Lettres.  I  have  a  great  venera- 
tion for  him." 

We  asked  Henry  Montagne  to  whom  we  could  apply 
for  confirmation  of  these  statements.  He  replied  :  "  Ask 
my  father's  colleagues,  the  greater  number  of  whom  were 
present  at  my  funeral,  which  took  place  on  November 
26,  1890,  I  died  on  the  previous  July  9th.  You  can 
inquire  particularly  of  Daniel  Riche." 

He  then  gave  those  details : — 

"  I  was  thirty-one  years  of  age.  I  died  in  a  tragic 
manner  on  the  anniversary  of  my  birth,  mortally  wounded 
by  a  tiger  in  carrying  out  an  order  I  had  received." 

All  the  names  mentioned  in  this  communication  were 
unknown  to  us,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  M.  Daniel 
Riche  and  M.  Edouard  Montagne,  whom  I  alone  had 
known  by  reputation.  My  first  care  was  to  look  in  the 
dictionary  for  the  name  of  Nha-Trang.  It  proved  to  be 
the  name  of  a  place  in  Annam,  not  of  a  locality,  but  of  a 
province. 


TYPTOLOGY    AND   LUCIDITY  229 

I  then  wrote  to  Paris  to  obtain  information— not  to 
M.  Daniel  Riche,  whose  address  I  did  not  know,  but  to 
the  office  of  the  Societe  des  Gens  de  Lettres,  and  received 
the  following  reply : — 

"  Paris,  October  15,  1906. 

"Dear  Sir  and  Colleague,— Yes,  Henry  Montagne 
was  the  son  of  a  former  delegate  of  the  Societ(^  des  Gens 
de  Lettres,  Edouard  Montagne,  the  immediate  predecessor 
of  M.  de  L.  He  was  killed  by  a  tiger  at  Nha-Trang 
(Annam),  on  July  9,  1896.  His  body  was  brought  to 
Paris  on  September  26th,  and  was  buried  on  the  28th 
at  Pere-Lachaise,  in  the  family  vault,  &c." 

Then  came  the  signature  of  a  well-known  member 
of  the  society.  That  is  all  very  well,  it  may  be  said  again, 
but  these  three  accounts  mention  some  sensational  in- 
cidents. M.  Henry  Montague's  death  must  have  caused 
a  certain  stir  ten  years  ago,  and  some  one  of  you  may  have 
preserved  the  recollection,  without  knowing  it,  in  a  corner 
of  his  memory.  I  would  simply  draw  attention  to  the 
precision  of  the  dates.  This  unconscious  memory  would 
have  to  be  very  faithful!  There  is  only  one  difference. 
The  spirit  said  "  November  26th  "  where  my  correspondent 
wrote  "  September  26th." 

In  any  case,  if  I  have  so  far  only  quoted  sensational 
facts  I  have  grouped  them  together  designedly.  I  will 
quote  others  which  are  less  sensational,  then  I  will  come  to 
those  which  are  quite  free  from  sensation. 

Henri  Thomas 

In  a  seance  which  took  place  last  May,  a  psychic 
personality  manifested  at  the  table  by  very  feeble  raps. 
We  entered  into  conversation ;  I  give  here  the  questions 
and  the  replies : — 

Question.  What  do  you  want  of  us  ? 

Answer.  To  converse. 

Q.  Then  will  you  tell  us  who  you  are  ?     Your  name  ? 

A.  Henri  Thomas. 


230  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

Q.  Have  you  been  dead  for  long  ? 

A.  Two  years  and  a  half. 

Q.  How  old  were  you  ? 

A.  Twenty  years. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  illness  ? 

A.  Accident. 

Q.  What  is  the  name  of  the  place  where  you  lived  ? 

A.  Gondrecourt. 

Q.  Were  you  born  at  Gondrecourt  ? 

A.  No.     At  Demange-aux-Eaux. 

Q.  Had  you  a  profession  ? 

A.  Yes;  teacher. 

The  remainder  of  the  conversation  is  of  no  particular 
interest. 

I  wrote  to  the  schoolmaster  at  Gondrecourt,  asking  him 
if  he  had  had  a  colleague  or  an  assistant  of  the  name  of 
Henri  Thomas,  and  in  what  way  he  had  died.  He  replied 
at  first  by  a  very  vague  letter,  which  showed  his  discretion, 
and  by  which  it  appeared  he  did  not  see  the  necessity  for 
giving  me  the  information.  I  communicated  this  letter 
to  M.  Thomas,  the  namesake  of  the  deceased,  who  wrote 
again,  this  time  as  secretary  of  the  Societo  d'^tudes  Psy- 
chiques.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  reply,  which  has 
been  added  to  my  collection.  I  merely  omit  the  pre- 
liminary sentences. 

"  Thomas  (Henri)  was  born  at  Demange-aux-Eaux 
(Mouse)  on  October  10,  1883.  He  entered  the  Normal 
School  at  Commercy  on  October  1,  1899,  and  left  on 
July  20,  1902,  with  the  higher  certificate.  On  October 
1st  of  that  year  he  took  the  position  of  probationary 
teacher  at  Gondrecourt,  about  four  miles  away  from  his 
family.  He  was  a  very  good,  kind  master,  somewhat 
timid,  conscientious,  and  of  very  good  conduct.  On 
Thursday,  November  26,  1903,  at  7  p.m.,  he  placed  himself 
in  front  of  a  train  on  the  line  from  Bar  to  Neufchateau.  We 
learned  of  his  tragic  death  on  the  following  day.  All  who 
knew  him  were  profoundly  astonished  by  it. 

(Signed)     "  L.,  Director  of  the  School  at 
Gondrecourt." 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  231 

Here,  again,  there  was  a  difference — only  one.  At 
Gondrecoiu't  they  were  convinced  that  he  had  committed 
suicide  :  the  spirit  said  "  accident."  Apart  from  that  the 
two  accounts  were  identical. 

Before  going  further,  I  ought  to  relate  another  of  these 
impressive  manifestations.  Afterwards  I  will  pass  on  to 
more  simple  narratives. 

Maurice  Bouche 

One  evening  a  spirit  came  and  said  that  his  name  was 
Maurice  Bouche,  and  that  he  was  very  unhappy.  His  first 
words  were  : — 

"  Children,  follow  the  advice  of  your  parents." 
I  ought  to  say  that  we  had  some  very  young  people 
present.  He  Avent  on  to  say  some  very  excellent  things  in 
melancholy  tones.  At  the  end  we  asked  him  where,  when, 
and  how  he  died.  But  before  going  further,  I  asked 
whether  any  one  in  this  gathering  had  heard  of  Maurice 
Bouche  (the  reply  was  in  the  negative).  The  fact  there- 
fore was  not  well  known,  so  that  no  objection  could  be 
raised  afterwards.  Be  that  as  it  may,  none  of  the  persons 
present  knew  him. 

Well,  the  following  is  the  spirit's  reply : — 
"  I  died  three  years  ago,  at  Lille,  on  the  scaffold." 
Not  knowing  to  whom  to  apply  for  confirmation  of  this 
statement,  I  put  some  inquiries  to  a  gentleman  who  had 
lived  at  Lille.  He  told  me  that  Maurice  Bouche  was  a 
young  man  of  good  family,  who  was  ruined  through  bad 
company.  Falling  lower  and  lower,  he  ended  by  joining 
some  robbers.  One  day  he  was  arrested  for  complicity  in 
the  assassination  of  an  old  lady  of  property,  and  was,  in 
fact,  executed  at  Lille  about  three  years  previously. 

Certainly,  if  we  accept  the  theory  of  latent  memory,  I 
admit  that  this  might  apply  to  this  last  manifestation. 
But  it  has  never  been  explained,  to  my  mind,  why  these 
recollections  should  remain  completely  dormant  for  three, 
ten,  or  even  twenty  and  thirty  years,  and  be  suddenly 
awakened  because  we  were  seated  in  a  circle  with  our 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

hands  on  the  tabic.  Neither  does  it  further  explain  why 
they  take  on  the  mode  of  speech  of  a  personality,  and  why 
they  should  tell  us  point-blank  things  that  were  quite 
unexpected  :  we  cannot  even  say  that  they  "  can  do  every- 
thing but  talk,"  according  to  the  old  saying  which  is 
applied  to  intelligent  dumb  animals.  They  can  talk ; 
they  only  lack  the  material  body.  If  the  intelligences 
thus  manifesting  were  only  recollections  momentarily 
effaced,  it  Avould  assuredly  be  a  very  strange  mnemo- 
technical  phenomenon,  as  strange  as  spiritism  itself. 

The  Weaver  Viry 

But  this  hypothesis  does  not  appear  to  hold  good  in 
view  of  other  revelations  which  I  have  kept  until  the  last. 
Let  us  listen  to  this  typtological  conversation  with  the 
spirit  of  a  brave  boy  who  was  neither  assassinated  nor 
executed,  who  had  no  history,  and  of  whom,  however,  we 
have  discovered  certain  traces. 

Question.  What  was  your  name  ? 

Answer.  Viry. 

Q.  What  was  your  profession  ? 

A.  Weaver. 

Q.  In  what  country  did  you  live  ? 

A.  Vosges. 

Q.  Were  you  a  workman  in  a  spinning  factory  ? 

A.  No ;  a  weaver. 

Q.  In  what  part  of  Vosges  did  you  live  ? 

A.  Gerbepol. 

Q.  That  is  where  you  were  born  ? 

A.  Gerardmer. 

Q.  In  what  year  did  you  die  ? 

A.  In  1877,  on  November  26th. 

Q.  What  age  were  you  ? 

A.  Twenty  years. 

Q.  Did  you  die  as  the  result  of  an  accident  ? 

A.  Congestion. 

Q.  In  your  bed  ? 

A.  No,  outside,  at  the  Grande-Source. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  233 

Q.  You  were  ill  previously  ? 
A.  No;  drunk. 

Q.  You  were  in  the  habit  of  drinking  ? 
A.  No. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  this  congestion  ? 
A.  Cold. 

Q.  Why  do  you  come  here  to-day  ? 
A.  To  converse. 
Q.  Do  you  know  us  ? 
4.  No. 

At  the  end  of  this  seance  the  following  letter  was  sent 
to  the  Mayor  of  Gerbepol : — 

"  Sir,— I  should  be  glad  if  you  would  tell  me  if  a  man 
named  Viry,  who  lived,  I  am  told,  in  your  locality  and  who 
died  about  the  year  1877,  has  left  any  relatives  in  the 
country,  and  if  anything  is  remembered  about  him. 

"  In  order  to  facilitate  your  inquiries  I  may  add  that 
Viry  was  a  weaver,  and  would  be  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  years  old." 

The  following  is  the  reply  received  from  the  Mayor  of 
Gerbepol : — 

"  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  15th  inst.,  I  have 
the  honour  to  inform  you  that  there  is  not  in  our  town 
any  relative  or  connection  of  young  Viry,  weaver,  born 
at  Gerardmer,  who  died  at  Gerbepol  on  November  26, 
1877,  aged  nearly  twenty  years. 

"  His  family  came  from  Gerardmer,  and  only  lived  here 
for  a  few  months.  A  sister  of  this  young  man  was  married 
to  a  man  named  G.  H.  of  Gerbepol,  who  at  present  lives  at 
Saint-Die.  She  died  some  time  since,  leaving,  I  believe, 
four  children,  of  whose  present  address  I  am  ignorant. 

"  This  young  man  was  found  dead  in  the  snow. 

(Signed)     "  E.  C,  Mayor  of  GerUpol" 

The  majority  of  the  persons  present  were  not  born  in 
1877;   it   would  therefore  have  been  difficult  for  them 


234  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

to  have  read  the  newspapers,  supposing  that  the  Nancy 
newspapers,  Avhich  had  few  correspondents  at  that  time, 
had  mentioned  the  sudden  death  of  a  poor  Vosges 
mountaineer. 

However,  as  there  are  many  who  are  always  ready 
to  beUeve  in  chances  and  coincidences  more  extraordinary 
even  than  the  spiritualistic  explanation,  I  will  admit  that 
an  old  number  of  a  newspaper,  dated  from  November 
1877,  might  have  fallen  after  thirty  years  into  the 
medium's  hands,  that  she  had  conscientiously  read  it, 
and  that  the  facts  and  dates  had  been  carefully  stored 
in  her  memory  in  order  to  be  brought  up  at  the  opportune 
moment. 

But  then  how  will  they  explain  the  folloAving  mani- 
festation, which  put  our  circle  into  communication  with 
the  spirit  of  an  old  lady,  in  very  humble  and  obscure 
circumstances,  who  died  peacefully  in  her  bed  in  a  village 
of  the  Ardennes,  of  Avhich  we  did  not  even  know  the 
name  ?  The  following  is  the  account  of  two  conversations 
Ave  had  with  this  spirit,  whose  language  denotes  much 
intelligence  and  elevation  of  feeling. 


Madame  Duch^ne 
First  Seance  (June  7th) 

The  spirit  declared  her  name  to  be  Mme.  Duchene, 
retired  teacher,  Avho  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years 
at  Vendresse  (Ardennes).  We  could,  she  said,  write  to 
the  Mayor  of  Vendresse,  who  would  confirm  these  details. 

Second  Stance  (June  12th) 

Question.  Who  Avere  you  ? 
Answer.  Mme.  Duchene. 
Q.  Where  Avere  you  teacher  ? 
A.  In  the  Marne. 
Q.  What  toAvn  ? 
A.  Not  necessary. 


TYPTOLOGY    AND   LUCIDITY  235 

Q.  Why  do  you  not  reply  to  that  question  ? 
A.  I  have  told  you  all  that  is  necessary. 
Q.  You  have  said  that  you  died  at  Vendresse  (Ardennes) 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
A.  That  is  sufficient. 
Q.  How  long  since  ? 
A.  Two  years  and  a  half. 
Q.  Of  what  illness  ? 
A.  Old  age. 

Q.  You  authorise  us  to  write  to  the  Mayor  ? 
A.  I  wish  it. 
Q.  Why  do  you  wish  it  ? 
A.  In  order  to  prove  the  truth  of  what  I  have  told 

you. 

Q.  Could  you  not  give  us  other  proofs  also  ? 

A.  I  must  observe  certain  limits. 

Q.  By  whom  are  these  limits  fixed  ? 

A.  Higher  spirits. 

Q.  Plural  or  singular  ? 

A.  Plural. 

Q.  When  you  were  living  did  you  believe  in  im- 
mortality ? 

A.  No. 

Q.  And  now  ? 

A.  I  am  forced  to  believe  it. 

Q.  You  were  doubtless  astonished  on  finding  yourself 
in  the  Beyond. 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  was  your  experience  after  death  ? 

A.  At  first  I  seemed  as  though  stunned. 

Q.   How  long  did  this  amazement  last  ? 

A.  Some  weeks. 

Q.  When  you  could  take  cognisance  of  your  situation, 

what  did  you  feel  ? 

A.  A  sensation  of  deliverance. 

Q.  You  are  happy  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Have  you  found  those  whom  you  have  lost  ? 

A.  Yes. 


236  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  All? 
A.  Yes. 

As  a  result  of  this  communication  I  liastened  to  write 
to  the  Mayor  of  Vendresse.   He  replied  to  me  as  follows : — 

"  Vendbesse,  June  16,  190G. 

"Sir, — In  reply  to  your  inquiry,  I  have  the  honour 
to  inform  you  that  Mme.  Duchenc,  widow,  nee  Bretagne, 
died  at  Vendresse  on  September  7,  1903,  and  that  she 
bequeathed  all  her  fortune  to  M.  L.,  formerly  school- 
master. "  BoNNiN,  Mayor." 

You  will  see  from  this  reply  that  the  Mayor  did  not 
suspect  my  reason  for  writing  to  him.  He,  no  doubt, 
took  me  to  be  a  claimant  for  what  Mme.  Duchene 
had  left. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  explicit,  and  I  see  no  other 
explanation  possible  for  this  revelation,  so  clearly  con- 
firmed, than  the  spiritualistic  one. 

I  must  remark  in  passing  that  the  higher  spirits  are 
the  most  sparing  of  personal  details  as  regards  themselves, 
that  is,  as  to  their  life  on  earth.  It  would  seem  as  though 
they  felt  scruples  in  making  our  researches  too  easy.  I 
merely  state  this  without  going  into  the  cause  of  the 
scruple ;  that  would  take  me  too  far.  However,  the 
information  Mme.  Duchene  consented  to  give  us  was 
sufficient  for  us  to  identify  her. 


Louis  Naude 

I  have  now,  I  believe,  given  seven  verified  manifesta- 
tions. Not  wishing  to  abuse  your  patience,  I  will  mention 
the  rest  more  briefly.  They  are,  however,  quite  as  in- 
teresting in  their  results.     The  eighth  was  very  short. 

Question.  Who  were  you  ? 

Answer.  Louis  Naude. 

Q.  What  was  your  profession  ? 

A.  Postman. 


TYPTOLOGY    AND   LUCIDITY  237 

Q.  In  what  locality. 

A.  Lardoize. 

Q.  What  Department  ? 

The  reply  was  somewhat  confused.  We  distinguished 
the  letters  a  r  d.  Some  believed  that  the  spirit  meant 
Ardeche,  and  others  Gard.  But  as  we  expected  another 
spirit  we  rapidly  passed  over  this  detail  and  askedj  where 
Louis  Naude  died.     He  replied : — 

A.  In  the  Rhone.     My  body  was  removed  to  Aries. 

Q.  Was  that  long  since  ? 

A.  Three  years. 

I  waited  some  time  before  seeking  to  verify  this 
communication,  which  appeared  somewhat  trivial.  On 
consulting  the  Dictionnaire  des  communes  I  found  in 
Ardeche  a  place  named  Ardoix,  and  m  the  Gard  a  hamlet 
named  Lardoize,  attached  to  the  town  of  Laudun.  I 
decided  to  write  to  both.  The  Mayor  of  Ardoix  had 
never  heard  of  a  postman  named  Louis  Naude,  but  the 
following  reply  came  from  the  Mayor  of  Laudun,  who 
was  also  Mayor  of  Lardoize. 

"Laudun,  September  6,  1906. 
"  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  favour  of  August  27  last  con- 
cerning Louis  Naude,  formerly  in  the  service  of  the 
P-L-M,  I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that  since  his 
departure  in  March  1903  I  have  had  no  definite  informa- 
tion concerning  him. 

"  Mme.  Louis  Naude  has,  since  then,  left  the  locality  ; 
however,  I  have  been  able  to  procure  her  present  address 
and  transmit  it  to  you  below. 

"  For  the  Mayor 
(Signed)  "  Sognier,  Secretary." 

I  did  not  think  it  my  duty  to  write  to  Mme.  Naude, 
not  wishing  to  push  my  researches  to  the  point  of  indis- 
cretion ;  for  this  reason  I  do  not  mention  her  address. 
It  was  sufficient  to  know  that  Louis  Naude  had  really 
existed ;  that  he  was  a  postman,  and  that  he  had  lived 
in  a   place   called  Lardoize.     What  the   wandering  and 


2^8  PSYCHICAL   PHEN0MP:NA 

invisible  personality  that  was  manifested  to  us  had  said, 
had  been  confirmed  by  the  Mayor  of  Laudun. 


Jean  de  Boutary 

The  ninth  communication  is  a  very  curious  one.  The 
spirit  gave  the  name  of  Jean  de  Boutary,  and  said  he  had 
lived  under  the  Regency.  His  language  was  that  of  a 
young  nobleman,  rather  dissipated,  of  light  character  and 
somewhat  sceptical. 

We  asked  him  what  was  his  principal  occupation. 

He  replied :  "  I  went  into  high  society." 

"  Whom  did  you  know  ?  Will  you  be  good  enough  to 
mention  a  name  ? " 

"  Cardinal  Dubois." 

"  And  whom  did  you  know  among  the  people  ? " 

"  Among  the  people  I  only  knew  pretty  girls." 

We  asked  Jean  de  Boutary  where  he  was  born.  He 
replied  that  he  was  born  at  Montauban,  and  that  he 
divided  his  time  between  that  town  and  Paris. 

"  Have  you  any  descendants  ? "  we  asked  him. 

He  replied  in  the  affirmative.  "  But,"  he  said,  "  they 
do  not  bear  my  name  exactly.  They  are  called  Dubois  de 
Boutary." 

"  And  where  do  they  live  ? " 

"  At  Montech  (Tarn-et-Garonne)." 

No  member  of  the  circle  had  heard  mention  of  Mon- 
tech. We  consulted  a  book  and  found  that  this  place 
really  existed,  that  it  was  situated  in  the  Department  of 
Tarn-et-Garonne.  I  wrote  to  the  Mayor  of  Montech,  and 
some  days  afterwards  I  received  the  following  reply,  with 
the  heading  of  the  Mayor's  office  : — 

"  Sir, — There  are  at  Montech  two  families  named 
Boutary,  one  Lafon-Boutary,  and  the  other  Dubois  de 
Boutary. 

"  I  believe  that  the  Lafon-Boutary  family  came  from 
Montauban,  but  that  of  M.  Dubois  de  Boutary  must,  if  I 
am  not  deceived,  originally  belong  to  Montech. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  239 

"  These  two  families  have  representatives  in  the  town, 
and  you  can  write  to  them. 

"  For  the  Mayor," 

(Signature  illegible). 

I  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  trouble  these  two  families  ; 
this  letter  was  sufficient  confirmation  of  the  information 
given  by  Jean  de  Boutary.  Here  again  is  a  communi- 
cation which  cannot  be  explained  by  mnemonics,  or  by 
latent  memory. 

But  this  was  not  the  most  extraordinary.  That  ema- 
nated from  a  spirit  named  Simonne.  I  must  make  you 
acquainted  with  Simonne. 

SiMMONNE   DE   LeWITZ 

The  personality  that  took  this  name  must  have  been 
that  of  a  young  girl  who  died  at  fifteen  years  of  age  a 
hundred  years  ago.  She  is  intelligent,  talkative,  exceed- 
ingly curious,  and  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  the  use  of 
sharp  language. 

She  said  she  belonged  to  a  family  of  Lewitz,  which  had 
emigrated  during  the  Revolution,  and  that  she  had  been 
brought  up  with  an  aunt  in  Brussels.  She  stated,  more- 
over, that  she  had  been  very  badly  brought  up,  in  the 
company  of  servants,  who  had  taught  her  to  swear.  The 
one  she  preferred  was  Pierre,  the  gardener,  whom  she  had 
met  in  the  Beyond. 

Simonne  was  never  willing  to  give  us  any  information 
that  would  help  to  establish  her  identity :  one  of  her 
defects  is  her  self-will  and  her  disturbance  of  the  seances 
with  her  jokes,  which  are  often  annoying.  The  following 
are  the  accounts  of  the  most  interesting  seances  which 
she  gave  us. 

Seance  of  June  Ihih. 

Question.  Since  you  are  not  willing  to  say  anything 
concerning  yourself  to-day,  tell  us  of  Pierre.  What  was 
his  family  ? 

Answer.  Batoix. 


240  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  Had  he  any  children  ? 
A.  Yes,  five. 

Q.  What  were  their  names  ? 

A.  (Simonne  gave  several  names,  Jean  being  among 
them.) 

Q,  Has  Jean  also  left  any  children  ? 

A.  I  think  so  ;  I  will  tell  you  that  to-morrow. 

Q.  Why  not  to-day  ? 

A.  That  is  my  business. 

Following  Seance 

Q.  You  can  tell  us  if  Jean,  son  of  Pierre  Batoix,  has 
left  any  children  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Has  he  at  present  any  descendants  ? 

A.  I  believe  so. 

Q.  Then  there  are  still  some  Batoix  ? 

A.  No ;  they  are  called  Louvet.  Their  mother  married 
a  Louvet. 

Q.  Do  you  authorise  me  to  write  to  this  Louvet,  to 
know  if  you  have  not  deceived  me  ? 

A.  He  will  not  reply. 

Q.  Why? 

A.  He  is  dead. 

Q.  I  believe  that  you  are  making  game  of  me. 

A.  Not  at  all.     His  wife  still  lives. 

Q.  And  is  she  called  Mme.  Louvet  ? 

A.  No  doubt.     What  would  you  have  her  called  ? 

Q.  Has  she  any  children  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  many  ? 

A.  Twelve. 

Q.  Simonne,  I  believe  more  and  more  that  you  are 
making  game  of  me. 

A.  If  you  do  not  believe  me,  write  to  the  Mayor. 

Q.  Then  tell  me  the  name  of  the  town. 

A.  Acquin. 

Q.  I  do  not  know  any  place  of  that  name. 

A,  Write  nevertheless. 


TYPTOLOGY    AND   LUCIDITY  241 

Q.  In  that  case  tell  me  the  name  of  the  post-town. 

A.  Lumbres. 

Q.  These  are  strange  names  you  have  given  me.  If  I 
write  to  the  Mayor  of  Acqiiin,  vid  Lumbres,  do  you  think 
that  I  shall  get  a  reply  ? 

A.  I  know  nothing  myself ;  I  am  not  his  secretary. 
But  write  all  the  same. 

The  following  day  I  looked  up  a  directory,  and,  much 
to  my  surprise,  I  found  the  name  of  Acquin  as  a  town, 
with  Lumbres  (Pas-de-Calais)  as  the  post-town.  I  wrote 
to  the  Mayor  of  Acquin  and  received  the  following  reply  : — 

"  Acquin,  June'28,  1906. 
"  Sir, — The  widow  Louvet  has  always  lived  in  Acquin. 
Several  of  her  numerous  children  are  in  situations,  but 
she  has  still  eight,  all  young,  to  support.  She  is  well 
worthy  of  interest,  especially  considering  that  her  health 
is  very  precarious.  Masson,  Mayor." 

After  that  the  theory  of  latent  memory  seems  to  me  a 
very  poor  one,  and  I  could  break  off  my  narratives  here. 

But  while  I  am  dealing  with  Simonne,  permit  me  to 
quote  the  following : — 


Elisabeth  de  Lewitz 

Simonne  had  spoken  of  us,  it  appears,  to  all  the 
members  of  her  family  that  she  had  found  in  the  Beyond. 
She  had  in  particular  a  sister  named  Elisabeth  de  Lewitz, 
who  lived  much  longer  than  our  little  friend.  She  had 
flourished,  so  she  said,  in  the  times  of  Louis  Philippe,  and 
this  noble  lady,  urged  by  curiosity,  did  not  disdain  to  be 
present  at  one  of  our  seances.  These  communications 
between  the  spirits  and  living  persons  seemed  almost  as 
extraordinary  to  her  as  they  did  to  us.  She  asked  us 
several  questions,  and  replied  to  ours.  In  return  for  this 
interview  we  asked  her  to  tell  us  if  there  remained  any 
descendants  of  her  family,  of  whom  Simonne,  more  care- 
less, had  not  been  able  to  tell  us. 

Q 


242  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Elisabeth  de  Lewitz  hesitated  a  Httle,  then  rephed  in 
the  affirmative.  But  she  added:  "I  do  not  know  if  I 
ought  to  tell  you  their  name." 

"  Why  ? " 

"  They  are  not  nobles." 

"  No  matter  for  that,"  I  replied.  "  We  are  not  noble 
either.     Tell  us  their  name  therefore." 

The  table  remained  for  a  moment  with  one  foot  in  the 
air,  then  rapped  out  the  following  letters : — 

"Afifra." 

"  And  where  does  this  family  of  AfFra  live  ? " 

"  At  Perpignan,"  replied  the  spirit. 

"  What  street  ?     What  number  ? " 

"  Rue  Neuve,  number  8." 

We  did  not  know  at  all  if  there  was  such  a  street  in 
Perpignan,  and  the  name  of  Affra  seemed  to  us  a  very 
strange  one.  As  a  matter  of  duty,  I  wrote  at  once  to  the 
Mayor  of  Perpignan  to  inquire  if  a  family  named  Aif'ra 
had  lodged  at  this  address.  I  give  the  reply  as  it  came 
from  the  Mayor's  secretary. 

"Perpignan,  August  30,  1906. 

"Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  in  reply  to 
your  letter  of  the  27th  inst.,  that  there  is  living  at  Perpignan 
a  family  of  the  name  of  Aifre,  not  AfFra.  M.  AfFre  is  a 
Notary  at  Perpignan,  Rue  Neuve,  8. 

"  For  the  Mayor, 

"  Delegate  Municipal  Councillor," 

(Signature  illegible). 

You  will  see  that  there  is  only  a  mistake  in  one  letter, 
and  this  mistake  is  easily  explained.  In  the  typtological 
alphabet  the  letter  a  is  expressed  by  one  rap  only,  like 
the  word  "yes."  Often  after  one  letter  has  been  given 
we  ask,  "  Is  that  all  ? "  and  the  table  replies  "  Yes."  It 
is  probable  that  after  the  letter  r  in  the  name  of  Affre  we 
put  this  question.  The  table  having  replied  "  Yes,"  we 
probably  took  this  "yes"  for  an  a.  But  this  mistake  is 
quite  insignificant,  because  Attra  and  AfFrc  are  much 
alike,  especially  so  near  to  the  Spanish  frontier. 


TYPTOLOGY    AND    LUCIDITY  243 

Here,  therefore,  are  ten  psychical  communications  con- 
firmed by  proofs.  There  are  many  others  I  could  relate. 
Among  these  last  named  are  communications  from  quite 
remarkable  people,  which  contain  definite  information  as 
to  the  Beyond,  the  psychical  life,  the  part  played  by 
fluids,  &c.  This  information  is  all  the  more  interesting 
for  us  who  think  we  know  those  who  give  it.  But  that  is 
beyond  my  limits,  and  I  must  stop  there  for  the  moment, 
leaving  you  to  draw  your  own  conclusions. 

For  my  own  part,  I  will  only  say  that  if  any  one  can 
furnish  me,  as  an  explanation  of  these  phenomena,  with 
any  theory  more  acceptable  than  the  spiritualistic  one, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  of  it.  But  with  regard  to  the 
objections  of  the  materialists  and  dogmatists,  I  notice 
that  they  only  offer  hypotheses  as  explanations,  and 
between  hypotheses  and  verified  facts  I  choose  the  facts, 
surprising  as  they  may  appear. 


AUGUSTIN   CaUCHY 

Six  persons  were  at  the  table.  Scarcely  anything  had 
been  obtained  for  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  except 
from  some  vulgar  entities,  whose  language  was  often  trivial 
or  disconnected.  Suddenly  the  knocking  changed,  and 
raps  became  clearer  and  more  uniform,  and  the  following 
conversation  ensued,  by  means  of  the  alphabet. 

Question.  Who  are  you  ? 

Answer.  Augustin. 

Q.  That  is  a  Christian  name.  Can  you  tell  us  your 
surname  ? 

A.  Cauchy. 

Q.  You  will  forgive  us  for  putting  some  categorical 
questions.  We  want  to  know  who  are  the  spirits  that 
reply  to  our  call. 

A.  That  is  right. 

Q.  Can  you  complete  your  name  by  some  information 
that  will  help  us  to  establish  your  identity  ? 

A.  Beatus  qui  intelligit  super  egenum  et  pauperem. 


244  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  That  is  a  maxim  ? 

A.  It  is  the  epitaph  engraved  on  my  tomb. 

Q.  Can  you  translate  it  for  us  ? 

A.  "  Blessed  is  he  who  understands  the  poor  and  has 
pity  on  the  unfortunate." 

Q.  That  is  the  epitaph  of  a  good  man.  But  your  tomb, 
where  is  that  ? 

A.  In  the  Sceaux  cemetery,  on  the  road  shaded  by 
chestnut  trees  which  leads  to  the  slope  of  Plessy-Piquet. 

Q.  Have  you  been  dead  very  long  ? 

A.  Fifty  years. 

Q.  Can  you  give  me  the  exact  date  of  your  decease  ? 

A.  Yes,  May  17,  1857. 

Q.  What  was  your  profession  ? 

A.  During  my  career  I  had  many  vicissitudes. 

Q.  You  had,  however,  one  favourite  occupation  ? 

A.  Science. 

Q.  You  were  perhaps  professor  ? 

A,  I  was. 

Q.  Where? 

A.  At  the  Sorbonne. 

Q.  Have  you  left  any  works  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  I  should  be  very  grateful  if  you  would  give  the  title. 

A.  Memoir es. 

Q.  You  had  a  number  of  pupils  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Some  of  them  must  have  attained  to  prominent 
positions.     Can  you  tell  us  their  names  ? 

A.  I  cannot. 

q.  Why? 

A.  It  would  be  transgressing  our  laws. 

Q.  What  laws  ? 

A.  The  laws  regulating  spirits. 

Q.  Then  tell  us  what  are  those  laAvs  and  who  has  de- 
creed them  ? 

A.  Our  Divine  Master. 

Q.  You  are  a  religious  spirit  ? 

A.  I  have  never  been  ashamed  to  live  as  a  Christian. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  245 

Q.  I  do  not  think  the  Gospel  contains  the  law  you  say. 
There  are  therefore  some  special  laws  for  spirits  ? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  You  state  that  you  have  lived  as  a  Christian. 
What  do  you  mean  by  that  ? 

A.  I  have  always  endeavoured  to  follow  faithfully  the 
divine  precepts.  Science  does  not  exclude  faith.  Look 
at  Newton,  Pascal,  Descartes :  did  these  valiant  defenders 
of  the  faith  of  our  fathers  neglect  science  ? 

Q.  What  do  you  understand  by  faith  ?  Is  it  faith 
in  a  future  life,  in  eternal  justice,  or  in  a  collection  of 
dogmas  ? 

A.  The  faith  as  it  is  taught  us  by  the  Gospel,  that 
sublime  book. 

Q.  Do  you  not  find  that  the  Gospel  contains  principally 
moral  precepts  rather  than  the  obligation  to  believe  in 
dogmas  which  have  since  become  narrowed  down  ? 

A.  It  is  those  precepts  which  form  the  base  of  our 
religion. 

Q.  Have  not  some  useless  and  very  complicated  things 
been  constructed  on  this  base  ? 

A.  Why  that  observation  ? 

Q.  Because  the  details  of  narrow  or  puerile  practices 
have  caused  their  fundamental  bases  to  be  lost  sight  of. 

A.  A  clear  conscience  sees  farther  than  practices. 

Q.  I  see  that  you  are  a  believer.  How  do  you  reconcile 
your  present  situation  with  your  beliefs  ? 

A.  Explain. 

Q.  Are  you  in  one  of  these  places  which  the  Church 
recognises  after  death — heaven,  purgatory,  or  hell  ? 

A.  But  I  am  in  heaven. 

Q.  Do  you  mean  that  you  are  in  the  state  of  mind  that 
corresponds  to  heaven,  or  that  you  are  really  in  heaven  ? 

A.  In  heaven. 

Q.   Then  you  have  seen  God  ? 

A.   Yes. 

Q.  Can  you  describe  Him  ? 

A.  Description  is  impossible.  I  was  dazzled  by  the 
Almighty  Power  of  the  Creator. 


246  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Q.  Who  told  you  that  this  dazzHng  spectacle  which 
you  cannot  define  contained  God  ? 

A.  I  have  seen  Him,  I  tell  you.  I  have  seen  Christ 
illuminating  the  heavens  with  the  splendours  of  his  glory, 
the  divine  word  in  His  humanity. 

Q.  You  may  have  seen  a  fluidic  personage  in  a  luminous 
atmosphere,  but  how  did  you  recognise  Christ  ? 

A.  How  could  I  fail  to  recognise  Him  ?  He  is  my 
Saviour,  who  became  as  we  were. 

Q.  If  you  are  in  heaven,  how  is  it  you  can  be  at  the 
same  time  on  earth  ?     How  is  it  you  are  here  ? 

A.  To  spread  these  teachings.  God  has  given  us 
power  to  work  with  men. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  personality  callmg  himself 
Augustin  Cauchy  was  clearly  characterised.  He  is  a  very 
orthodox  believer  who  sacrifices  none  of  his  religious 
principles,  and  whose  aim  is  to  reconcile  them  wdth  the 
teachings  of  science  and  the  facts  which  he  asserts  that 
he  has  witnessed  in  the  Beyond. 

I  made  some  inquiries  as  to  this  savant.  It  was  not 
difficult  to  find  traces  of  him,  and  what  I  have  since  read 
about  him  agrees  with  the  foregoing. 

Cauchy  was  an  ardent  legitimist,  who  refused  to  take 
the  oath  to  the  Government  of  July  and  the  Second 
Empire,  and  who  was  compelled  on  two  occasions  to  leave 
the  chair  of  the  Sorbonne  and  teach  in  a  foreign  country. 
It  was  certainly  possible  for  one  or  other  of  the  persons 
present  to  have  learned  some  biographical  details  of  this 
subject.  But  what  is  difficult  of  explanation,  since  none 
of  them  had  ever  lived  in  Paris  or  visited  the  cemetery 
at  Sceaux,  is  the  communication  relative  to  the  epitaph. 
Now,  this  information  was  correct.  I  have,  in  fact,  written 
to  the  keeper  of  the  cemetery  at  Sceaux,  and  the  following 
are  the  particulars  he  was  good  enough  to  send  me : — 

"  Sceaux,  Noveniber  9, 1906. 
"  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  3rd  inst.,  I  have 
the  honour  to  inform  you  that  I  have  made  a  search  in 
the  cemetery  for  the  Cauchy  tomb,  which  fortunately  I 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  247 

found,  and  I  have  copied  the  following  epitaph  engraved 
on  the  tombstone,  and  which  reads : — 

augustin-louis 

Bakon  Cauchy 

died  at  sceaux  may  23,  1857 

beatus  qui  intelligit 
super  egenum  et  pauperem 

"  This  abandoned  grave  is  in  a  deplorable  state,  covered 
over  by  weeds  ;  it  was  necessary  to  clean  it  in  order  that  I 
might  send  you  the  information  asked  for. 

(Signed)     "  Vincent,  Keeper  of  the  Cemetery  at  Sceaux, 
174  RiLe  Houdan,  Sceaux  (Seine)." 

This  honest  keeper  added  that  the  cleaning  necessary 
to  decipher  the  inscription  took  him  about  an  hour.  It 
had  therefore  been  for  a  long  time  illegible  to  visitors,  and 
we  may  ask  how  the  Latin  text  and  the  translation  could 
have  come,  unconsciously  or  otherwise,  to  the  knowledge 
of  any  member  of  our  circle. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

TYPTOLOGY  AND  LVCIDITY— (continued) 

Case  of  Dr.  Petersen 

The  following  case  is  published  by  M.  Anastay,  President 
of  the  Marseilles  Society  for  Psychical  Studies,  in  the 
Bulletin  of  that  Society. 

The  importance  of  this  investigation  will  not  fail  to  be 
perceived,  both  because  of  the  care  with  which  M.  Anastay 
has  arranged  the  documents  which  are  absolutely  authentic 
in  this  case,  and  because  of  the  verification  resulting 
from  an  official  inquiry  made  by  the  authorities,  and 
which  included  the  evidence  and  the  medico-legal  report 
on  which  the  finding  of  the  judicial  authorities  was 
based. 

The  Case  of  the  Disappearance  of  Dr.  Petersen. 

In  the  course  of  December  1904  the  Ahnmiach  cle  la 
Savoie  for  1905  (an  almanack  which  appears  to  give  special 
prominence  to  the  sensational  and  tragic  occurrences  in 
the  district)  published  the  following  information : — 

A  Disappearance 

"  We  were  informed  about  October  20th  of  the  disap- 
pearance of  a  young  doctor  of  medicine,  M.  Munch 
Petersen,  of  the  Fredericks  Hospital,  Copenhagen,  and  son 
of  a  professor  of  medicine  in  that  city. 

"Dr.  Harold  Munch  Petersen  came  to  Aix-les-Bains 
with  a  circular  ticket  via  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and 
from  there  should  have  gone  to  Paris  by  way  of  Lyons. 
A  post-card  sent  from  Culos  to  his  sister  on  October  3rd, 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  249 

stated  that  he  was  leaving  for  Aix.  Since  then  his 
family,  to  whom  he  often  wrote,  have  not  received  any 
news. 

"  At  Aix  his  card  was  found  at  the  Grand  Cercle,  where 
he  had  sent  it  with  a  request  for  an  invitation,  but  his 
name  was  not  found  either  on  the  police  register  or  in  the 
list  of  visitors.  He  had  a  letter  for  Dr.  Cazalis,  who  had 
not  seen  him.  The  prefecture  of  police  has  searched  in 
vain  for  him  in  Paris.  It  seems  that  he  must  have  left 
Aix  almost  immediately  after  his  arrival,  since  he  did  not 
put  up  at  any  hotel.  The  family  offer  a  reward  of  three 
hundred  francs  to  any  one  who  would  give  the  police  any 
information  which  would  enable  them  to  trace  him. 

"  His  portrait  is  given  herewith  (the  almanack  pub- 
lished the  portrait  of  Dr.  Petersen),  and  his  description  is 
as  follows : — 

"  Dr.  Harold  Munch  Petersen,  33  years  of  age :  short ; 
fair  hair ;  blue  eyes ;  rather  pale ;  slight  fair  moustache ; 
speaking  French  imperfectly. 

"  M.  Gauthier,  Commissioner  of  Police,  has  made  in- 
quiries showing  that  Dr.  Petersen  arrived  at  Aix,  and  his 
identity  has  been  established. 

"  On  the  morning  of  October  5th,  before  going  out  on 
his  bicycle  to  make  an  excursion  in  the  neighbourhood, 
the  doctor  ordered  eggs  and  tea  for  breakfast,  saying  that 
he  would  not  return  until  the  evening. 

"  Since  then  he  has  not  returned,  and  it  is  feared  that 
he  may  have  met  with  an  accident  on  one  of  the  surround- 
ing mountains." 

The  news  soon  spread,  and  public  opinion,  which  had 
recently  been  disturbed  by  the  murder  at  the  Villa  Solms, 
was  much  divided,  some  inclining  to  believe  it  was  an 
accident,  others  a  crime ;  some  stories  made  the  victim 
die  on  a  mountain,  others  in  the  Lac  du  Bourget ;  others 
again  favoured  the  suggestion  of  suicide.  At  bottom  no 
one  kneAv  anything  as  to  the  cause  of  this  mysterious  dis- 
appearance, not  even  the  authorities,  who,  pressed  by  the 
Prefect,  who  himself  received  orders  from  the  Ministry,  at 


250  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  instigation  of  the  Danish  Legation,  were  worn  out  with 
the  efforts  they  had  made  in  every  direction. 

The  devoted  Commissioner  of  Police,  M.  Gauthier, 
whose  zeal  and  perspicacity  were  beyond  all  praise,  after 
having  cleverly  traced  Dr.  Petersen  at  Aix-les-Bains,  and 
learned  that  before  leaving  the  hotel  where  he  had  stayed 
he  had  expressed  the  intention  of  going  to  the  Mont-du- 
Chat,  which  lies  to  the  west  of  Aix-les-Bains,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  dangerous  mountains  of  the  district,  had 
immediately  sent  the  gendarmes  and  foresters  in  this 
direction,  as  well  as  to  "  La  Chambotte,"  a  mountain  2730 
feet  high  which  overlooks  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake. 
This  clue  appeared  all  the  more  important  because  one  of 
Dr.  Petersen's  brothers,  a  doctor  of  law  and  professor  at 
the  University  of  Copenhagen,  while  taking  an  automobile 
trip  round  the  lake,  had  collected  what  seemed  to  be 
evidence  in  favour  of  this  hypothesis.  Several  innkeepers 
at  Bourget  and  Bordeau  stated,  in  fact,  that  on  October 
5th  they  had  seen  a  traveller  on  a  bicycle  who  was  very 
like  the  photograph  shown  to  them. 

Inquiries  had  also  been  made  at  Mont-Revard,  a 
favourite  point  for  excursions,  situated  to  the  east  of 
Aix-les-Bains,  but  without  any  appreciable  result.  The 
banks  of  the  lake  had  also  been  explored,  but  the  fisher- 
men, whose  workmg  season  it  was,  declared  that  if  there 
had  been  a  dead  body  near  the  bank,  in  shallow  water 
their  nets  would  have  brought  it  up. 

At  this  juncture  the  Commissioner,  M.  Gauthier,  who 
had  had  the  matter  in  charge  for  some  days,  received  a 
visit  from  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Aix-les-Bains,  M.  B., 
who  handed  him  the  following  anonymous  letter  which  he 
had  just  received : — 

"  Aix-les-Bains,  October  26,  1904. 

"  To  the  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

"  Permit  me  to  bring  to  your  knowledge  the  foUowmg 
communication  just  received,  and  to  remain  anonymous 
for  the  present. 

"  If  by  this  means  the  body  is  discovered,  I  will  make 
myself  known  by  producing  a  copy  of  this  letter. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  251 

"  The  doctor  died  on  a  perpendicular  precipice  of  the 
Revard,  under  an  overhanging  rock  near  a  house  which  is 
used  as  a  shelter  for  sheep  when  overtaken  by  storms. 

"  A  point  which  will  be  very  useful  for  discovering  the 
body  is  to  look  for  traces  of  blood  on  all  the  stones  around 
the  place  in  which  it  lies." 

After  examining  this  paper,  it  was  wisely  agreed  to 
take  note  of  its  contents  without,  however,  placing  ex- 
aggerated confidence  in  it,  and  the  same  evening  it 
was  communicated  to  the  brigadier  of  gendarmerie,  who 
promised  to  send  his  men  again  the  next  day  to  the  slopes 
of  the  Revard. 

This  was  done,  and  the  summit  of  the  mountain  was 
specially  examined.  Several  chalets  were  found  which  cor- 
responded to  the  description,  but  all  efforts  were  fruitless. 
As  winter  was  coming  on,  and  all  the  mountain  paths 
would  soon  be  covered  with  snow,  the  search  was  given  up 
until  the  following  season. 

M,  B.  was  not  long  in  discovering  by  chance  that  the 
author  of  this  anonymous  letter  was  a  lady  then  on  a  visit 
to  Aix,  Mme,  Vuagniaux,  a  convinced  spiritist,  the  wife 
of  M.  Vuagniaux,  a  talented  artist,  and  both  of  them  paid 
us  a  visit  at  Marseilles  in  January  1905,  with  a  very  warm 
recommendation  from  the  president  of  the  Geneva  Society 
for  Psychical  Studies,  Mme.  Rosen-Dufaure,  who  intro- 
duced M.  and  Mme.  Vuagniaux  to  us  as  highly  reputable 
persons  enjoying  general  respect  and  esteem.  In  fact, 
they  impressed  us  as  being  worthy  and  serious-minded 
people.  We  hastened  to  introduce  Mme.  Vuagniaux  to 
some  ladies  of  the  Marseilles  Society  for  Psychical  Studies, 
and  it  Avas  not  long  before  they  began  experimenting  with 
the  tables. 

Mme.  Vuagniaux  did  not  speak  of  what  had  hap- 
pened at  Aix-les-Bains,  although  she  said  that  she  had 
several  times  felt  inclined  to  do  so,  and  the  winter  passed 
without  other  incident. 

We  now  return  to  the  "  communication,"  for  such  it 
was,  as  ingenuously  stated  in  the  letter  to  the  magistrate 


252  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

at  Aix-les-Bains.  Mme.  Vuagniaux,  being  concerned, 
like  all  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  town,  as  to  the  fate 
of  Dr.  Petersen,  had  remarked  one  day  to  those  around 
her  that  the  spirits,  who  knew  many  things,  ought  to 
enlighten  her  as  to  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  doctor. 

At  an  evening  meeting  with  her  friends,  Mme.  B.  and 
Mile.  B.,  they  made  the  table  "  talk,"  and  without  these 
ladies  asking  anything,  as  is  frequently  the  practice  with 
spiritists,  they  obtained  by  typtology  the  following  com- 
munication : — 

"  The  doctor  died  in  a  cave  with  perpendicular  sides 
at  Revard.  You  can  give  the  information  or  find  him 
yourselves. 

"  You  should  see  the  Commissioner,  and  tell  him  that 
you  know  that  the  doctor  died  on  the  Revard  in  a  rock 
cavity  on  a  precipice  close  to  a  house  which  serves  as  a 
shelter  for  the  flocks  of  sheep  when  they  are  overtaken  by 
rain.  A  very  important  point  for  discovering  the  body 
is  to  look  for  a  trace  of  blood  on  all  the  stones  surround- 
ing the  spot  where  he  fell." 

Communication  received  October  26, 1904,  signed  Marie 
Vuagniaux,  Mme.  L.  B.,  Mile.  M.  B. 

M.  Vuagniaux  was  engaged  in  painting  in  an  adjoining 
room  when  he  was  called  to  be  witness  of  this  commuica- 
tion.     He  sent  us  the  following  attestation : — 

"  The  President  of  the  Psychical  Society  of  Marseilles. 

"  I  certify  that  when  engaged  in  the  room  adjoining 
that  where  the  seance  was  held,  I  was  called  and  witnessed 
the  communication  No.  1  just  as  it  has  been  sent  to  you. 

(Signed)    "  C.  Vuagniaux." 

"  Aix-les-Bains,  August  12,  1905." 

Mme:  Vuagniaux  was  much  surprised  at  this  mani- 
festation. The  following  day,  while  alone,  she  was  im- 
pressed to  ask  the  spirits  for  further  details,  and  she 
obtained  the  following  by  intuitive  mediumistic  writing: — 

"  The  doctor,  in  order  to  climb  the  Revard,  passed  by 
Roche  du  Roi  and  Mouxy  ;  in  the  last  place  he  was  seen 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  253 

by  some  persons.  His  body  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  ravine, 
a  little  distance  from  the  sheepfold.  He  fell  twice,  first  of 
all  at  the  foot  of  a  perpendicular  wall,  then  lower  down 
into  a  chasm  under  an  overhanging  rock. 

"  That  is  all ;  there  is  nothing  to  alter.  If  God  wills  he 
will  be  founcJ.  There  is  a  house  which  is  near  the  road ; 
the  gendarmes  will  inquire.  He  was  seen  to  pass  there ; 
he  was  on  foot." 

Finally,  a  third  communication  said  : — 

"  My  dear  child,  it  is  your  usual  guide  speaking  to  you. 
I  see  you  wish  to  know  if  I  can  confirm  the  informa- 
tion which  has  been  given  you.  I  can.  The  doctor  is 
dead ;  his  spirit  is  still  in  trouble.  He  will  be  found  from 
the  information  given.  I  can  add  this — you  must  look  at 
the  foot  of  a  wall  which  overhangs  a  precipice ;  he  fell 
there  first  of  all,  then  into  a  chasm.  We  shall  do  our  best 
to  help.  It  was  well  on  in  the  evening — about  six  o'clock 
— when  he  fell.  He  was  seen,  when  passing  Mouxy,  by 
several  people.     Adieu,  my  child.  Your  Guide." 

M.  Vuagniaux  was  called  to  witness  these  fresh  com- 
munications, and  the  following  is  the  attestation  he  added 
to  the  preceding  : — 

"  I  declare  that  I  took  cognisance,  at  the  time  they 
were  received,  of  the  communications  Nos.  2  and  3 
received  by  my  wife  through  mediumistic  writing  the  day 
following,  and  the  day  but  one  after  No.  1  was  given  by 
raps  at  a  seance.  C.  Vuagniaux." 

In  the  course  of  the  winter  Mme.  Vuagniaux  obtained 
some  communications  which  confirmed  the  explana- 
tions given,  and  advised  her  to  continue  the  search. 
In  April  she  and  her  husband  returned  to  Aix-les- 
Bains,  but  the  Revard  was  covered  with  snow  and  en- 
veloped in  mist.  On  May  5th,  after  a  special  seance,  it 
was  decided  that  the  following  week,  if  the  weather  per- 
mitted, M.  v.,  assisted  by  a  member  of  the  Alpine  Club, 
should  recommence  the  search. 


254  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

It  was  then  that  the  following  information  appeared  in' 
the  newspapers,  which  spread  with  lightning  rapidity  and 
at  once  stopped  the  generous  intention  of  M.  and  Mme 
Vuagniaux. 

Discovery  of  a  Body       * 

Mysterious  Disappearance — Search  Seven  Months  after. 
Gruesome  Find 

"  Aix-les-Bains,  May  lOth. 

"  On  October  3rd  last,  Dr.  Harold  Munch  Petersen  of 
Copenhagen,  aged  thirty-three  years,  came  to  Aix-les- 
Bains  to  stay  a  few  days. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  4th  Dr.  Petersen  asked  the 
proprietor  of  the  hotel  for  information  as  to  the  excursions 
which  could  be  made  in  that  district.  During  the  day 
he  visited  the  town,  and  at  this  date  the  registers  of  the 
Grand  Cercle  show  that  he  visited  that  establishment. 
In  the  evening  the  doctor  dined  at  the  hotel,  and  went  to 
bed  at  an  early  hour.  At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning 
Dr.  Petersen  rose,  and,  after  taking  a  light  breakfast,  he 
Avent  for  a  bicycle  ride.     Since  then  he  has  not  been  seen. 

"  The  Danish  doctor's  family,  much  surprised  at  re- 
ceiving no  news  of  him  for  several  days,  sent  one  of  his 
brothers  and  a  friend  to  make  inquiries. 

"  On  October  15th  they  arrived  in  Paris,  and  went  to 
the  Danish  Legation,  which  immediately  asked  the  police 
department  to  make  inquiries  as  to  this  mysterious  dis- 
appearance. The  doctor's  movements  were  traced,  and  it 
was  ascertained  that  he  had  gone  to  Aix-les-Bains.  The 
brother  and  friend  immediately  took  the  first  train  for 
Savoy. 

"  On  their  arrival  at  Aix-les-Bains  active  search  was 
made  under  the  direction  of  the  Commissioner  of  Police 
by  the  Aix-les-Bains  gendarmerie,  the  brigades  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  the  forest-keepers.  All  search  was  fruitless  vmtil 
Tuesday  evening,  May  9th,  when  Antoine  Jacquin,  farmer 
at  Mouxy,  on  going  into  a  coppice  on  Mont  Revard,  dis- 
covered a  dead  body  entirely  eaten  by  birds  of  prey.    Only 


TYPTOLOGY   AND    LUCIDITY  255 

the  calves,  which  were  covered  with  leggings,  were  intact. 
M.  Antoine  Jacquin  at  once  informed  the  Commissioner  of 
Police  of  his  discovery.  Some  papers  found  at  the  place 
where  the  body  was  discovered  leave  no  doubt  that  the 
body  is  that  of  Dr.  Harold  Petersen." 

The  disappearance  of  Dr.  Petersen  and  the  negative 
result  of  the  search  caused  great  excitement  among  the 
townspeople.  Many  conjectures  were  made  as  to  this  dis- 
appearance, which  seemed  somewhat  mysterious  after  the 
dark  memories  of  the  tragedy  of  the  Villa  Solms.  The 
inhabitants  of  Bourget  and  Bourdeau  stated  that  on 
October  5th  they  had  seen  the  Danish  doctor  on  a  bicycle 
returning  to  Col-du-Chat.  Their  statements  must  have 
been  erroneous,  because  chance  led  to  the  discovery  of  the 
body  of  the  unfortunate  doctor  in  exactly  the  opposite 
direction.  To  obtain  further  information  we  went  to  the 
place  where  the  body  was  discovered,  in  company  with 
M.  Jacquin  and  M.  Exertier,  formerly  Mayor  of  Mouxy, 
and  M.  Blanc.  We  arrived  at  the  spot  after  a  walk  of 
three  hours.  M.  Antoine  Jacquin  gave  us  an  account  of 
the  discovery  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  I  own  a  property  situated  on  the  western  slope  of 
Mont  Revard,  about  4500  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
called  the  Bois  Noir,  but  better  known  as  the  Gorge  des 
Cherassons. 

"  This  property  is  on  a  steep  slope  ;  at  the  top  there  is 
a  rock  thirty  feet  high,  formed  of  two  vertical  portions  of 
equal  dimensions,  separated  by  a  small  platform.  This 
rock,  which  cannot  be  climbed,  is  consequently  a  barrier 
to  the  ascent  of  the  Revard. 

"  The  Alpine  Club  path  which  leads  to  the  top  of  the 
Revard  on  the  west  side  passes  nearly  two  hundred  yards 
below  my  land. 

"  I  only  come  to  this  place  once  in  three  or  four  years 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  getting  to  it.  It  takes  two 
hours  of  difficult  walking,  and  the  ground  is  almost  value- 
less, with  only  a  few  fir  trees  on  it. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  May  9th,  I  went  up  to  my  pro- 


256  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

perty,  the  Gorge  des  Cherassons.  About  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  from  the  base  of  the  rock  I  have  mentioned  I 
found  some  fragments  of  grey  clothing.  Greatly  surprised 
I  went  higher,  and  at  various  points  I  saw  other  pieces  of 
the  same  material.  About  forty  yards  from  the  base  of 
the  rock  I  came  across  a  dead  body,  or  rather  a  skeleton, 
seated  and  bent  forward. 

"  I  saw  other  pieces  of  material  close  to  the  body. 
Higher  up  I  found  a  small  knife,  a  watch,  and,  further  on, 
the  chain.  About  twenty  yards  from  the  base  of  the  rock 
I  discovered  the  remains  of  a  shirt,  a  circular  railway 
ticket,  and  a  wallet  containing  some  foreign  bank-notes. 

"  Lower  down,  about  a  hundred  yards  away  from  the 
body,  I  found  a  black  leather  purse,  containing  a  ten-franc 
and  a  five-franc  piece,  and  some  foreign  coins  of  small 
value.     I  also  found  an  eye-glass. 

"  This  body  could  only  have  been  discovered  by  me. 
Every  two  or  three  years  I  go  up  to  this  place,  which  is  my 
property.  It  is  absolutely  deserted  and  dangerous ;  no 
tourist  en'  huntsman  ever  ventures  to  make  the  ascent. 

The  Hypothesis 

"It  is  supposed  that  Dr.  Petersen  was  making  the 
climb  to  the  top  of  Mont  Revard,  and  that  afterwards  he 
had  taken  the  Alpine  Club  road  to  return  on  foot  to  Aix- 
les-Bains  by  an  arid  path  on  which,  at  a  distance  of  nearly 
a  mile,  there  is  a  chalet ;  below  this  there  are  two  very 
difficult  passes,  overhung  by  two  peaked  rocks  about  four 
yards  high. 

"  It  is  supposed  that  Dr.  Petersen  lost  his  footing  and 
fell  on  to  the  first  rock,  when  he  would  be  thrown  on  to 
the  second,  and  then  would  fall  into  M.  Jacquin's  wood. 

The  Presumptions 

"  The  circumstances  in  which  the  body  was  discovered 
lead  to  the  supposition  that  Dr.  Petersen  was  the  victim 
of  an  accident. 

"  But  an  anonymous  letter,  if  we  can  believe  cer- 
tain statements,  addressed   to  the  magistrate  when  the 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  257 

press  reported  this  disappearance  in  October  last,  j^ave 
precise  information  as  to  it,  with  particulars  as  to  the  place 
where  Dr.  Petersen  had  met  his  death. 

"  A  judicial  inquiry  will  be  held  as  to  this  painful  death. 
The  remains  of  Dr.  Petersen  have  been  left  on  the  scene 
of  the  accident,  awaiting  removal  by  the  authorities." 

The  Chambery  magistrates  then  ordered  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Police  of  Aix-les-Bains  to  go  to  the  site  on  the 
Revard  with  a  doctor,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  the  death 
was  due  to  accident,  or  to  crime,  or  suicide,  and  to  open  a 
searching  inquiry  to  ascertain  if  there  was  cause  for  sus- 
picion against  any  one.  The  result  of  the  inquiry  was 
given  in  the  following  terms  in  the  Progres  de  Lyon  of 
May  13,  1905  :— 

Disappearance  of  Dr.  Petersen — Removal  of  the  Body 

"  Contrary  to  our  expectations,  the  Chambery  magis- 
trates did  not  go  to  the  place  where  Dr.  Petersen  met  his 
death,  it  having  been  established  that  the  death  was  due 
to  a  mountaineering  accident. 

"  Yesterday  morning  at  six  o'clock  M.  Gauthier,  Com- 
missioner of  Police  ;  Dr.  Guyenot,  official  doctor ;  Favre, 
sergeant-major  ;  Martin,  gendarme  ;  Blanc  Lanote,  Briga- 
dier of  Police;  and  Gauthier,  junior,  took  the  cog-wheel 
railway  for  Mount  Revard.  After  a  walk  of  three  hours 
the  party  arrived  at  the  Bois  Noir. 

"  After  a  rest,  the  body  was  placed  in  a  sheet,  and  a 
stretcher  was  improvised  out  of  some  fir  tree  branches. 

"  After  many  difficulties  the  party  arrived  at  Aix-les- 
Bains  :  the  body  was  transferred  to  the  hospital  mortuary, 
and  the  doctor  held  a  post-mortem  examination.  No 
fracture  of  the  skull  was  discovered.  The  ribs  of  the  left 
side  were  completely  broken.  It  is  supposed  that  Dr. 
Petersen  left  Mont  Revard  on  foot  in  order  to  return  to 
Aix-les-Bams,  taking  the  Alpine  Club  path.  At  about  130 
yards  from  the  chalets  the  path  divides  into  two. 

"  Instead  of  continuing  to  follow  the  Alpine  Club  path, 
the  doctor  took  the  other  path,  which  leads  to  the  edge  of 

R 


258  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

a  rock.     Here  he  must  have  slipped  and  fallen,  rolling 
over  two  peaked  rocks. 

"According  to  Dr.  Guyenot,  death  was  not  instan- 
taneous. The  Danish  doctor  regained  consciousness  for 
a  few  moments,  and  was  able  to  drag  himself  to  the  foot 
of  the  rock  where  he  was  found  and  seat  himself  there." 

Thus  ended,  for  the  few  witnesses  who  had  followed 
the  affair  in  all  its  details,  the  strange  coincidence  between 
an  accident  which  remained  for  a  long  time  unknown  and 
a  revelation  produced  in  the  course  of  a  judicial  inquiry 
with  regard  to  it. 

Our  readers  know  that  this  revelation  stated  that  : 
(1)  Dr.  Petersen  died  on  Mont  Revard  ;  (2)  this  death  was 
due  to  a  mountaineering  accident ;  (3)  as  to  this  accident, 
numerous  details  were  given  which  were  really  true,  such 
as  the  vicinity  of  a  chalet,  the  double  fall  on  perpendicular 
rocks,  the  survival  of  the  victim,  &c.,  but  they  also  know 
that  some  slight  mistakes  were  also  made. 

Before  examining  these  circumstances  more  closely, 
and  drawing  from  them  such  deductions  as  seem  to  be 
permissible,  we  will  here  finish  the  descriptive  part  of 
our  narrative,  by  saying  that  the  mortal  remains  of  the 
unfortunate  Danish  doctor  repose  peacefully  in  the  ceme- 
tery at  Aix-les-Bains ;  in  the  picturesque  words  of  the 
sympathetic  Commissioner,  M.  Gauthier,  "close  to  the 
spurs  of  the  Alpine  chain  which  inexorable  fate  had 
marked  for  the  termination  of  his  too  short  career." 

We  will  now  examine  the  circumstances  of  the  Alpine 
tragedy  which  was  the  subject  of  the  preceding  narrative, 
to  see  what  we  may  learn  from  it  to  the  advantage  of 
psychical  science. 

Let  us  say  first  of  all  that  if  the  discovery  of  the  dead 
body  had  followed  close  upon  the  statement  of  Mme. 
Vuagniaux,  the  dramatic  interest  would  doubtless  have 
been  increased.  But  ought  avc  therefore  to  say,  from 
the  scientific  point  of  view,  that  the  importance  of  the 
resemblances  between  the  information  revealed,  and  those 
supplied  by  the  subsequent  inquiry,  has  been  diminished  ? 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  259 

No,  because  the  non-discovery  of  the  dead  body  was  not 
due  to  any  defect  in  the  search,  which  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  extensive  and  conscientious ;  nor  yet  to  lack  of 
precision  in  the  particulars  revealed ;  because  the  main 
characteristics  of  the  place  indicated  seem  to  have  been 
given  in  the  "  communications."  In  reality,  the  non- 
discovery  of  the  body  was  due  to  a  special  circum- 
stance :  the  marked  inaccessibility  of  the  place  where 
Dr.  Petersen's  body  was  lying,  and  which  was  found  to 
be  a  neglected  corner  of  the  Revard. 

In  point  of  fact  the  witness  Jacquin  declared  in  his 
interview  with  the  Progres  de  Lyon  that  "  the  inhabitants 
of  Mouxy  are  not  very  enthusiastic  about  going  into  their 
woods,  for  they  are  very  dangerous  places  to  get  at,"  and, 
in  a  private  letter,  that  "  the  searches  of  the  gendarmerie 
may  have  been  very  thorough,  but  to  get  to  this  dangerous 
spot  one  must  know  the  way,  and  run  considerable  risk." 
Dr.  Guyenot  was  not  less  explicit  in  saying  that  this  spot 
"  is  difficult  of  access  and  extremely  dangerous," 

What  is  of  importance  to  us,  therefore,  is  not  to  know 
whether  or  not  the  body  was  discovered  after  the  revela- 
tion, but  whether  special  and  striking  agreements  are 
found  between  the  communication  and  the  fact,  and 
what  is  their  origin. 

First  of  all,  in  order  to  see  things  from  a  slightly  higher 
standpoint,  is  there  sufficient  agreement  to  claim  our 
attention  and  justify  a  study  such  as  we  submit  to  the 
consideration  of  our  readers  ?  Yes,  because  one  of  the 
most  enlightened  witnesses,  not  to  be  suspected  of  par- 
tiality, the  Commissioner  of  Police,  M.  Gauthier,  when 
questioned  by  us  as  to  the  effect  produced  upon  him  by 
these  agreements,  was  good  enough  to  give  us  the  follow- 
ing detailed  account  of  the  impression  made  upon  him 
at  the  time  of  the  recognition  of  the  body,  and  which 
has  not  yet  been  effaced.  The  reader  will  find  in  it  that 
warmth  and  vitality  which  characterises  the  narration  of 
actual  experiences. 

Speaking  of  the  time  when  the  party  mentioned  by 
the  editor  of  the  Lyons  newspaper  had  arrived  at  the 


260  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

top  of  the  Revard,  and  had  then  to  discover  the  place 
where  the  body  of  Dr.  Petersen  had  fallen  and  to  ascertain 
the  causes  of  his  fall,  M.  Gauthier  said : — 

"  The  keeper  knew  the  situation  of  the  Jacquin  property. 
He  was  to  lead  us  by  some  rocks  which  had  been  mentioned, 
which  bordered  the  upper  edge  of  the  property.  We 
wended  our  way  from  the  station  towards  the  south  part 
of  the  plateau,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  this  station : 
we  passed  by  five  small  buildings  a  little  way  apart  from 
one  another.  The  one  served  as  a  cheese  dairy  during 
the  summer ;  a  second,  during  bad  weather,  sheltered  the 
flocks.  Had  the  sibyl  spoken  truly  in  her  letter  addressed 
to  the  magistrate  ?  Here  is  the  building  which  serves  as 
a  shelter  for  sheep.  Where  is  the  cave?  I  look  and 
search  in  vain.  We  come  to  a  deep  and  steep  gorge. 
We  continue  our  perilous  descent.  The  keeper  comes 
to  the  top  of  the  rocks,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  the 
sloping  property  of  M.  Jacquin.  We  walk  silently  and 
thoughtfully,  when  suddenly  the  keeper  cries  out : 

" '  Doctor,  come  forward  I  pray  you,  but  carefully ; 
your  shoes  are  not  iron  shod,  and  in  spite  of  your  stick 
you  may  slip  and  tumble  into  the  chasm.' 

" '  Take  hold  of  a  branch  of  the  bush  by  your  side.' 

" '  That  is  it !  Do  not  go  any  farther  ;  bend  over  and 
look.' 

" '  What  a  strange  sight !  There  is  the  rock  with  ver- 
tical walls  from  the  top  of  which  the  doctor  probably  fell.' 

" '  Oh,  what  a  strange  thing !  I  see  a  cave  which  I 
had  not  known ;  it  is  hidden  under  the  Revard.  And  to 
think  that  for  nearly  thirty  years  I  have  traversed  the 
dangerous  parts  of  this  mountain.' 

"  At  these  words  Dr.  Guyenot  turned,  and  our  eyes  met. 

"The  rock  with  vertical  walls  (the  anonymous  letter 
said,  'perpendicular  precipice'),  the  cave  seen  for  the 
first  time  by  the  keeper  (but  it  was  the  cave  described  by 
the  sibyl !). 

"With  great  difficulty,  the  doctor  came  towards  me. 
We  exchanged  impressions  ;  we  were  struck  with  astonish- 
ment. 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  261 

" '  All  this  is  right,'  I  said, '  the  shed  for  the  sheep,  the 
perpendicular  precipice,  the  cave.  Is  it  really  under  the 
rocks  with  vertical  walls,  in  this  cave,  that  the  dead  body 
of  Dr.  Harold  Munch  Petersen  lies  ? ' 

"  We  had  not  long  to  wait  for  the  reply  to  my  question. 

"  In  fact  the  forest  keeper,  by  means  of  a  horn,  sent 
forth  a  rousing  call.  The  mountaineers,  the  gendarmes, 
the  secretary  and  the  Brigadier  of  Police  (who  had  taken 
two  hours  and  a  half  to  come  from  the  station  at  Pugny 
to  the  top  of  the  Bois  Noir)  replied  by  shouts.  They  saw 
us,  again  ascended,  and  were  soon  not  far  from  us,  by  the 
side  of  the  dead  body,  about  forty  yards  from  the  rock 
beside  which  we  were  standing. 

"  The  particulars  given  to  the  magistrate  by  the  lady 
were  accurate." 

Commissioner  Gauthier  demonstrated  in  his  report 
that  Dr.  Petersen  had  gone  towards  the  summit  of  Mont 
Revard  by  the  Alpine  Club  path ;  he  had  breakfasted 
there,  and  had  descended  again  by  the  same  way ;  "  when 
near  the  pond  he  had  taken  a  false  direction,  by  going 
along  the  path  to  the  right  which  leads  .to  the  chasm," 
and  he  ended  with  the  conclusion  that  "  it  was  certainly  a 
mountain  accident  that  caused  the  death  of  Dr.  Harold 
Munch  Petersen ;  and  it  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  other 
cause." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  legal  doctor  stated  to  his  com- 
panions that  "  Dr.  Petersen  survived  the  accident  for 
several  hours,  but  it  is  impossible  to  specify  the  exact 
time  which  elapsed  before  he  died." 

The  principal  features  of  the  revelation  appear,  there- 
fore, to  combine  in  proving  its  veridical  character,  and  it 
remains  for  us  to  consider  the  possible  hypotheses  in  ex- 
planation of  this  remarkable  case,  after  having  examined 
as  closely  as  possible  the  details  we  already  know. 

It  was  possible  to  suppose  that  Dr.  Petersen  had  died 
by  falling  from  a  rock,  and  the  revelation  might  in  all 
strictness  only  be  the  effect  of  a  coincidence,  but  the 
veridical  details  furnished  by  the  famous  "  communica- 


262  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

tion "  seem  to  us  to  exclude,  by  their  number  and  parti- 
cular character,  this  rather  simple  hypothesis. 

It  mentions  first  of  all  a  "  perpendicular  precipice," 
which  is  correct ;  then  a  "  cave,"  which  ought  to  play  an 
important  part  in  the  recognition  of  the  spot,  since  this 
term  is  repeated  three  times  in  the  original  communica- 
tions. Now  this  important  detail  is  confirmed,  since  a 
natural  cave  existed  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  double-staged  rock  on  which  the  doctor  fell.  We  see 
by  the  plan  (Plate  II.)  that  the  opening  of  this  cave  which 
drew  the  attention  of  the  keeper  and  others  was  about 
fifteen  yards  from  this  double-staged  rock.  But  if  we 
consider  the  form  of  this  cave  we  find  that  it  is  more 
closely  and  truly  over  the  dead  body,  since  "  if  a  line  was 
drawn  towards  the  east,  from  the  top  of  a  perpendicular 
raised  from  the  place  of  the  body,  it  would  come,  if  not  to 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  cave,  at  least  quite  close  to 
this  extremity."  This  cave,  which  serves  as  a  refuge  for 
badgers,  has  an  opening  of  nearly  a  yard  wide,  a  yard  and 
a  half  high,  projecting  about  two  yards,  and  seems  to  hang 
in  space :  it  becomes  larger  towards  the  south,  where  the 
double-stage  rock  is,  until  it  attains  a  depth  of  seven  or 
eight  yards,  thus  constituting  "  a  large  chamber,  so  that  if  a 
man  fell  into  this  cave  he  would  not  be  able  to  get  out." 

Dr.  Petersen  might,  according  to  M.  Gauthier,  who  gave 
this  opinion  simply  as  a  hypothesis,  have  fallen  from  a 
rock  which  overhangs  this  cave  and  come  to  the  spot 
where  he  was  found,  which  would  make  the  "  communi- 
cation" more  literal  on  this  point;  but  we  are  bound  to 
accept  the  version  generally  accepted  by  the  mountaineers 
who  have  seen  the  place,  and  by  Dr.  Guyenot,  who  believed 
that  Dr.  Petersen  had  fallen  from  the  adjoining  double- 
staged  rock  (Plate  II.,  Fig.  2).  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
doctor's  body  was  found  neither  in  nor  under  this  cave, 
but  below  it.  There  was  therefore  a  slight  inadequacy 
of  terms  in  this  description,  but  not  a  marked  incor- 
rectness. 

With  regard  to  the  second  point  in  the  letter  sent  to 
the  authorities,  the  sheepfold,  there  Avas  no  mistake  in 


'  •  I       ^ 


,1  ■  ^ ,''/  ■"■* 


.^^ 


\\\v;^•;..;::^'■:;:;^■:i••?i^-^|)1;;;;/;;il;lVc^ 


264  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

this  either.  The  shcepfold  existed,  and  was,  according  to 
the  witnesses,  from  four  to  five  hundred  yards  from  the 
spot.  Every  one  knows  how,  on  mountains  as  on  the  sea, 
distances  are  relative,  and  we  think  that  the  description  in 
the  communication  can  be  considered  fairly  correct,  and 
that  is  certainly  the  impression  which  the  narrative 
related  above  seems  to  have  made  upon  the  excellent 
M.  Gauthier. 

We  pass  to  other  details  a  little  less  important,  because 
they  are  reported  in  two  documents  which  have  not  been 
officially  authenticated. 

The  spots  of  blood  may  have  had  their  importance 
while  the  event  was  still  recent,  but  not  after  the  rain  or 
snow  had  swept  away  the  traces. 

If  Dr.  Petersen  passed  on  foot  by  the  Roche  du  Roi 
and  Mouxy,  no  one  has  been  able  to  testify  to  it,  except 
a  woman  of  Mouxy,  Avho  declared  that  some  one  who 
passed  without  a  bicycle  and  bearing  a  resemblance  to 
Dr.  Petersen,  stated  that  he  was  going  to  the  Revard, 
on  the  day  of  the  accident.  The  fact,  which  is  almost 
established,  that  the  doctor  did  not  use  his  bicycle,  seems 
to  give  some  support  to  this  statement. 

The  assertion  that  Dr.  Petersen  fell  twice,  at  the  foot  of 
a  perpendicular  wall,  then  under  a  cave,  repeated  again  in 
other  words  ("  look  at  the  foot  of  a  wall  which  overhangs 
a  precipice ;  he  fell  there  first  of  all,  then  into  a  chasm  "), 
although  badly  expressed,  since  it  may,  strictly  speaking, 
be  applied  to  a  fall  from  the  rock  which  overhangs  the 
cave,  is  nevertheless  striking  enough,  because  it  appears  to 
us  to  apply  better  to  the  official  hypothesis,  which  made 
the  doctor  fall  from  the  double-staged  rock  forming 
the  end  of  the  gully  des  Cherassons  to  the  right  of  the 
cave. 

Finally  we  come  to  the  time  of  the  fall,  which,  as  it 
seems  to  be  erroneous,  has  the  effect  of  a  slight  blemish 
on  a  pretty  face.  We  might  infer  from  it  that  the  doctor, 
overtaken  by  the  night,  was  venturing  too  incautiously, 
and  that  is  perhaps  the  unconscious  thought  that  was 
suggested  to  Mme.  Vuagniaux  at  a  moment  when,  putting 


^66  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

some  mental  questions  to  herself,  as  we  have  seen  was  her 
custom,  she  no  doubt  offered  her  own  explanation. 

We  consider  it  as  proved  that  the  fall  took  place  at 
the  time  when  the  watch  stopped,  that  is  to  say,  at  3.54. 

This  constitutes  the  sole  error,  though  only  a  slight 
one,  which  we  have  to  notice,  if  we  do  not  take  into 
account  that  which  results  from  the  declaration  that 
"  the  body  will  be  found  from  this  information,"  which  is 
weakened  by  a  preceding  declaration  that  the  body  will 
be  recovered  "  if  God  wills  it." 

In  summing  up  the  impressions  produced  by  the  rela- 
tions established  between  the  event  and  the  revelations 
which  followed  it,  we  will  say  that  in  this  case,  as  in  nearly 
all  those  which  are  reported  in  mediumistic  seances,  we 
find  that  mixture  of  truth  and  falsehood  or  error,  which 
always  gives  a  slight  vagueness  to  the  whole,  and  throws 
our  mind  into  incessantly  recurring  perplexities.  But  if 
the  proportion  of  truth  and  falsehood  varies  in  each  case, 
here  the  true  seems  to  greatly  predominate  over  the  false. 
If  we  may  be  permitted  a  comparison,  we  would  say  that 
the  communications  of  Mme.  Vuagniaux  produce  almost 
the  effect  of  messages  which  might  be  transmitted  by 
means  of  the  telephone  from  a  person  who  had  seen  the 
place  and  the  scene,  who  had  only  a  limited  time  allowed, 
say  half  a  minute  for  each  communication ;  this  would 
prevent  him  from  choosing  his  terms,  and  would  make 
him  sometimes  go  rather  wide  of  what  he  meant  to  say. 

We  come  now  to  the  hypotheses  which  might  be  pro- 
posed in  explanation  of  this  case. 

The  simplest  that  presents  itself  to  the  mind  is  that  of 
an  unconscious  knotvledge  of  tJte  intentions  of  Dr.  Peter- 
sen, comhined  with  that  of  the  places  which  might  have 
been  known  to  he  dangerous  by  one  of  the  witnesses  of  the 
scene. 

We  have  seen  that  the  doctor  had  asked  for  particulars 
at  the  hotel  as  to  the  excursions  to  be  made,  and  that  he 
had,  on  the  day  before  the  accident,  left  his  card  at  the 
Grand  Cercle,  where  he  might  have  spoken  of  his  plans. 
One  of  the  witnesses  who  was  present  at  the  spiritistic 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  267 

S(^ance  might  therefore,  while  sitting  at  a  table  in  a  cafe, 
or  while  walking  in  a  public  garden,  have  heard,  without 
being  aware  of  it,  a  remark  made  by  some  one  near  him. 

First  of  all,  the  inquiry  that  we  have  made  is  rather 
unfavourable  to  this  idea.  In  the  absence  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Cercle,  Avho  had  resigned,  the  assistant 
manager,  M.  R.,  has  been  good  enough  to  inform  us  that 
"  no  one  at  the  Cercle  could  furnish  any  information  as  to 
Dr.  Petersen,  who  had  passed  absolutely  unnoticed  among 
the  crowd  of  habitues  of  the  establishment."  Further, 
M.  (Jr.,  Controller  of  the  Cercle,  who  recorded  the  name  of 
the  visitor,  has  declared  that  the  doctor,  "  who  spoke 
French  with  difficulty,  did  not  say  a  word  as  to  his  inten- 
tion of  going  to  the  Revard,  and,  moreover,  did  not  speak 
of  anything  whatever."  At  the  hotel  where  the  doctor 
was  staying  I  had  still  less  success.  The  manager  gave 
the  following  reply  to  our  question  whether  the  doctor 
had  given  any  indications  whatever  as  to  his  projected 
excursions : — 

"  Aix-LES-Bains,  August  6,  1905. 

"  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst,,  I  have 
the  honour  to  tell  you  that  on  leaving  my  house  the 
doctor  said  to  my  daughter,  who  had  told  him  of  several 
walks  that  he  could  take,  that  he  was  going  on  his  bicycle 
to  the  Col  du  Chat ;  that  is  how  the  police  were  misled  in 
their  search,  because  no  one  would  have  suspected  that 
the  doctor  had  gone  to  the  Revard,  a  mountain  on  which 
there  were  no  carriage  roads.  E.  V." 

In  order  to  reply  to  the  objection  that  some  one  of 
those  present  might  have  known  of  the  dangerous  parts 
of  Mont  Revard,  we  ought  to  say  that  neither  M.  nor 
Mme.  Vuagniaux,  nor  Mile.  B.,  had  ever  climbed  this 
mountain.  Mme.  B.  had  only  been  there  once,  ten  years 
previously,  with  her  husband  and  a  relative;  she  recol- 
lected having  passed  through  some  vineyards,  then  along 
some  paths  which  were  not  dangerous,  and  she  retained 
only  a  pleasant  memory  of  this  excursion,  on  account  of 


268  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  marvellous  view  which  she  had  enjoyed  from  the 
summit. 

Moreover,  all  the  preceding  indications,  one  of  which 
represents  the  Jacquin  property  as  an  isolated  spot, 
"  absolutely  deserted  and  dangerous,  where  no  tourist  or 
huntsman  would  risk  making  the  ascent,"  ought  to  demon- 
strate, a  fortiori,  that  the  spot  is  impracticable  for  a  woman. 
Finally,  the  most  characteristic  declarations  were  made 
when  Mme.  Vuagniaux  was  alone. 

Since  the  hypothesis  of  sub-consciousness  must  be  set 
aside,  we  have  to  consider  that  of  telepathy. 

The  doctor,  before  dying,  might,  by  the  power  of  his 
thought,  have  impressed  some  strata,  more  or  less  deep,  of 
the  sub-consciousness  of  2^^'^so7is  who,  in  a  waking  or 
sleeping  state  (and  in  the  latter  case  by  dreams  forgotten 
on  awakening),  may  have  preserved  this  irnpression  in  a 
latent  state,  and  in  the  form  of  pictures  moi^e  or  less 
animated,  to  be  brought  to  light  at  a  favourable  moment. 

What  may  perhaps  give  a  semblance  of  force  to  this 
supposition  is  that  Dr.  Petersen  was  in  an  excellent  condi- 
tion for  telepathy,  according  to  the  generally  accepted  rules : 
he  was  young,  overtaken  in  full  vigour  by  a  terrible  and 
desperate  state  of  mind,  far  from  all  assistance,  his  agony 
lasting,  according  to  the  legal  doctor,  perhaps  for  "  several 
hours."  But,  on  the  other  hand,  why  should  this  mental 
force  go  in  search  of  persons  quite  unknown  to  him  ?  How 
can  it  be  explained  that  an  influence  deposited  in  the  sub- 
consciousness of  a  person  had  to  wait  twenty-one  days 
before  manifestation,  and  is  there  any  proof  of  a  parallel 
phenomenon  ?  All  our  ideas  as  to  telepathy  are  of  quite 
recent  origin,  and  this  supposition,  which  we  are  unable  in 
our  special  case  to  support  by  any  proof,  cannot  detain  us 
longer. 

We  pass  to  the  hypothesis,  perhaps  more  acceptable,  of 
telesthesia. 

One  of  those  present  may  have  2>Tojected  his  sub-con- 
sciousness, and  seen,  by  means  still  unknown  to  ofUcial 


TYPTOLOGY   AND   LUCIDITY  269 

science  {clairvoyance  or  lucidity  of  somnambulis'in  and 
the  semi-hypnotic  states),  the  events  which  he  translated 
into  the  form  of  a  spirit  communication. 

Magnetisers  hold  that  things  sometimes  happen  as 
though  this  hypothesis  were  a  reality,  but  first  of  all 
their  experiments  have  been  made  with  subjects  put  to 
sleep,  and  not  in  a  waking  state,  as  was  the  case  with  our 
spiritists ;  and  then,  has  it  really  been  demonstrated  that 
a  somnambulist  has  the  power  to  "  see  "  into  the  past  and 
into  the  future  ?  These  facts  are  rare  and  uncertain ; 
they  shine  out  in  each  psychic  as  a  fugitive  light  which 
soon  goes  out — sometimes  it  is  revived,  only  to  be  finally 
extinguished ;  so  that,  in  the  present  state  of  science,  we 
cannot  see  what  to  reply  to  any  one  who  should  say  : 
"  You  claim  that  lucidity  is  an  autonomous  phenomenon 
and  has  nothing  in  common  with  spiritism;  Well,  for  my 
part,  I  claim  that  spiritism  alone  exists,  and  that  in  the 
cases  where  you  think  you  observe  lucidity  it  is  a  '  spirit ' 
that  is  the  cause  of  it."  We  even  find  that  a  number  of 
minor  considerations  come  to  the  help  of  this  spiritist 
opinion  and  support  it  by  their  influence ;  but  that  is 
not  our  aim,  and  we  accord  no  greater  value  here  to 
the  spiritist  hypothesis  than  to  the  preceding  one,  being 
guided  by  the  scientific  spirit  which  prevents  us  from 
advancing  further  than  our  position  will  allow  us.  We 
are  desirous,  above  all  else,  of  guarding  against  premature 
and  hazardous  theories,  and,  in  especial,  against  the  very 
human  tendency  to  push  unprovable  hypotheses  to  ex- 
tremes, and  to  set  one  up  against  the  other  too  dog- 
matically. 

Every  one  will  be  free  here  to  interpret  the  facts 
according  to  his  liking  and  preference.  Some  will,  for 
example,  say  that  a  "  spirit "  who  was  interested  in  Dr. 
Petersen  would  not  fail  to  leave  on  one  side  the  rocks 
and  other  details  of  the  scene,  and  to  tell  us  of  his  watch 
and  other  personal  articles,  valuable  as  means  of  recog- 
nition ;  of  the  position  of  the  body,  still  more  charac- 
teristic, &c.     Others  will  reply  that  the  "  spirit "  did  not 


270  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

wish  to  give  signs  of  identity,  but  only  to  afford  the 
opportunity  for  finding  the  body,  for  the  sake  of  the  family. 
We  are  not  condemning  these  endeavours  to  arrive  at 
some  tenable  hypothesis ;  but  we  should  pass  beyond  our 
limits  if  we  allowed  ourselves  to  be  led  on  to  draw  con- 
clusions more  extended  than  our  premisses  warrant. 

E.  An  AST  AY. 


CHAPTER    XX 

TYPTOLOGY 

Analysis  of  the  Phenomena 

The  phenomena  observed  by  means  of  typtology  are 
certainly  so  strange  that  the  mind  retains  them,  half 
questioning  their  actuality,  and  cannot  help  seeking  for 
an  explanation  of  them. 

The  imagination  easily  comes  into  play,  if  we  allow  it  a 
free  course,  and  the  most  varied  theories  arise,  all  of  which 
by  different  methods  seem  capable  of  giving  us  the  inter- 
pretation of  a  certain  number  of  facts. 

For  our  part,  on  the  contrary,  we  shall  endeavour  to 
elimmate  the  role  of  imagination,  and  to  examine  these 
facts  by  applying  to  them  the  method  of  scientific  analysis 
which  we  follow  when  we  study  any  phenomenon  of  this 
kmd.  We  shall  therefore  pass  from  the  more  simple  to  the 
more  complex,  from  the  known  to  the  unknown :  seeing, 
first  of  all,  if  we  cannot  find  in  other  facts  better  studied 
and  experimentally  demonstrated  an  explanation  which 
we  can  apply  to  these  peculiar  phenomena. 

First  of  all,  it  seems  to  us  a  mistake  to  seek  one  single 
interpretation  for  facts  which,  although  resembling  each 
other  in  many  points,  may  arise  from  causes  different  in 
nature. 

Consequently  we  may  admit  that  an  interpretation 
which  will  exactly  apply  to  a  certain  number  of  cases, 
leaves  the  field  free  for  other  mterpretations  which  apply 
better  to  other  cases. 

Among  the  phenomena,  which  result  from  a  faculty 
peculiar  to  certain  subjects,  which  will  help  us  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  a  large  number  of  cases  of  typtology,  we 
place  thought-transference  in  the  first  rank. 

271 


272  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Let  us  see,  in  the  first  place,  if  we  can  scientifically 
accept  thought-transference,  and  whether  it  is  admitted 
that  a  subject  can  perceive  a  thought  that  is  not  revealed 
by  any  external  sign.  More  generally  still,  the  question 
here  put  can  be  at  once  stated  in  a  more  complete  and 
precise  manner.  Is  it  possible  for  a  direct  mental  com- 
munication to  pass  from  one  living  person  to  another  ? 

This  possibility  no  longer  appears  to  us  to  be  in  doubt. 
In  fact,  the  numerous  experiments  of  M.  Boirac  and  Colonel 
de  Rochas,  as  well  as  our  own,  seem  to  have  irrefutably 
demonstrated  that  the  human  mind  can,  without  any 
physical  communication,  exercise  a  direct  influence  on 
another  human  being. 

We  even  recognise  that  this  influence  can  be  exercised 
by  two  different  methods :  by  mental  suggestion  and  by 
transmission  of  thought.  These  two  methods  must  be 
kept  absolutely  distinct  from  each  other,  as  we  shall  show, 
and  we  shall  have  occasion  to  invoke  them  successively 
in  order  to  explain  the  various  phenomena. 

Mental  suggestion  ^  is  the  action  which  the  mind  or  the 
will  of  the  individual  exercises  on  the  body  of  another 
living  person.  It  is  not,  therefore,  properly  speaking,  a 
communication  from  mind  to  mind ;  it  is  the  influence  of 
the  mind  on  the  organs  of  another  subject.  If  A.,  for 
example,  acts  by  mental  suggestion  on  B.,  he  can  put  his 
muscles  into  play,  make  his  limbs  perform  movements  or 
acts  more  or  less  complicated.  But  B.  does  not  know  to 
what  these  movements  will  lead.  He  does  not  know 
beforehand  what  he  is  going  to  do  ;  he  is  like  a  puppet, 
of  which  the  strings  are  pulled  by  A. 

Thought-transference,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  influ- 
ence directly  exerted  by  the  mind  of  one  subject  on  the 
mind  of  another.  There  is  here  a  real  communication 
from  mind  to  mind.  If,  therefore,  A.  transmits  to  B.  the 
thought  of  an  action,  B.'s  mind  first  of  all  perceives  the 
thought  of  this  act,  and  secondly,  his  organs  carry  it  out. 
The  phenomenon  may  be  more  or  less  complicated  by 

'  See  the  Treatise  on  Hypnotism  by  the  same  author. 


TYPTOLOGY  273 

other  circumstances ;  but  it  is  always  the  mind,  which  is 
the  transmitter,  and  another  mind  which  is  the  receiver.- 

Before  applying  thought-transference  as  an  explana- 
tion of  typtological  phenomena,  it  is  necessary  to  draw 
attention  to  some  laws  of  thought-transference,  which 
experiment  and  observation  have  already  enabled  us  to 
recognise : — 

(a)  Thought-transference  requires,  in  the  percipient,  a 
special  faculty,  which  may  be  developed  by  training,  or 
may  be  due  to  momentary  exaltation. 

(6)  It  requires  in  the  agent  an  aptitude  which  may  be 
acquired,  but  which  can  be  diminished  or  augmented  by 
various  conditions. 

(c)  All  agents  cannot  act  indifferently  on  any  per- 
cipient ;  there  must  be  a  special  relation,  a  certain  har- 
mony, original  or  acquired,  between  the  two  subjects. 

(d)  In  addition  to  this  general  disposition  the  perci- 
pient must  be,  at  the  time  when  the  phenomenon  is  to  be 
produced,  in  a  special  condition,  which,  for  us,  is  a  species 
of  hypnotic  state,  which  we  have  called  the  state  of  passive 
mediumship. 

(e)  In  this  condition  the  percipient  is  easily  able  to 
vibrate  in  unison  with  the  agent  to  whom  he  is  accustomed 
— that  is  to  say,  to  be  capable  of  receiving  his  thought. 

(/)  It  may  also  happen  that  he  is  accidentally,  or  by 
reason  of  various  circumstances,  vibrating  in  harmony 
with  another  agent,  more  or  less  distant,  and  who  may 
even  be  quite  unknown  to  him. 

(g)  The  percipient  may  be  prevented  from  receiving 
the  thought,  because  of  circumstances  that  are  opposed 
to  the  hypnotic  state  of  which  we  speak,  or  because  of  the 
influence  of  other  persons  who,  consciously  or  not,  act  on 
him  by  mental  suggestion  to  prevent  him  from  receiving 
the  thought  transmitted. 

(h)  It  is  not  necessary  for  the  agent  to  be  conscious  of 
the  act  of  the  transmission  of  thought. 

(i)  The  percipient,  provided  that  he  possesses  the 
faculty  of  lucidity,  can  read  a  thought  which  only  exists 
in  the  sub-consciousness  of  the  agent. 

s 


274  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

{j)  The  percipient  may  also  be  unconscious  of  the  act 
of  thought-transmission  which  operates  through  his  in- 
strumentality, and  he  may  give  expression  to  the  thought 
unconsciously  in  an  indirect  manner. 

(k)  The  act  of  transmission  and  the  act  of  reception 
are  not  necessarily  simultaneous  ;  a  longer  or  shorter  time 
may  elapse  between  the  moment  when  the  transmitter 
sends  forth  the  thought  and  the  moment  when  the  receiver 
perceives  it. 

To  sum  up,  we  see  that  the  essential  principle  of 
thought  -  transference  may  resolve  itself  into  this  :  an 
agent  and  a  recipient  independent  of  each  other,  and  who 
may  act  unconsciously  ;  the  reception  may  not  take  place 
until  some  time  after  the  act  of  transmission. 

These  few  laws,  which  all  who  have  studied  thought- 
transference  will  accept,  enable  us  to  interpret  many 
phenomena. 

Let  us,  therefore,  examine  in  succession,  and  accord- 
ing to  a  regular  plan,  the  various  phenomena  which  may 
occur,  commencing  with  the  simpler  ones  and  coming  pro- 
gressively to  the  more  complex  examples. 

(a)  The  medium  makes  a  statement  which  he  believes 
to  be  unknown  to  him,  and  which  is  certainly  unknown  to 
all  present,  but  inquiries  reveal  that  the  fact  may  have 
come  to  the  sub-consciousness  of  the  subject ;  whether  by 
sight,  by  written  documents  which  he  may  have  accident- 
ally seen,  or  by  hearing — he  might  have  heard  the  fact 
mentioned  without  paying  any  attention  to  it. 

In  this  case  there  is  a  simple  passing  into  the  conscious- 
ness of  something  existing  in  the  sub-consciousness.  The 
phenomenon  seems  very  simple,  but  it  is  necessary  to 
notice  it,  because  it  frequently  occurs,  and  we  do  not  always 
recognise  it  when  it  is  not  subjected  to  careful  inquiry. 

(6)  In  another  case  the  medium  speaks  of  something 
which  he  docs  not  know,  but  which  is  known  to  some 
person  present.     This  is  simple  thought-transmission. 

(c)  The  medium  says  something  that  he  does  not  know, 
which  is  not  in  the  conscious  thoughts  of  any  of  those 
present,  but  which  may  have  come,  more  or  less  accident- 


TYPTOLOGY  275 

ally,  to  the  knowledge  of  one  of  them,  who  may  therefore 
have  it  in  his  sub-consciousness.  In  this  case  there  is 
thought-reading  on  the  part  of  the  percipient,  the  trans- 
mitting agent  being  unconscious  of  it. 

{d)  The  medium  makes  something  known  which  is 
quite  unknown  to  himself  and  all  present,  but  known  to 
some  one  else  more  or  less  distant.  Here  we  have  thought- 
transmission  from  a  distance,  which,  according  to  circum- 
stances, may  be  either  conscious  or  sub-conscious  on  the 
part  of  the  agent,  but  which  is  generally  sub-conscious  on 
the  part  of  the  percipient. 

We  now  come  to  the  case  which  seems  the  most 
difficult  to  explain :  the  medium  speaks  of  things  of  which 
every  known  person  is  ignorant.  We  may  even  admit  that 
it  can  be  proved  that  the  things  were  only  known  to  a 
deceased  person. 

We  ought  to  divide  these  cases  into  two  categories. 

In  the  first,  it  is  a  question  of  a  hidden  object,  of  a 
letter  or  something  written — in  a  word,  of  an  object  or 
material  sign,  the  existence  of  which  no  one  knows,  and 
which  is  outside  the  range  of  the  subject's  normal  senses. 
Lucidity  is  sufficient  to  explain  these  cases.  We  know,  in 
fact,  that  lucidity  is  a  faculty  possessed  by  certain  sub- 
jects, by  which  they  perceive  the  existence  of  objects 
which  are  not  within  the  range  of  their  normal  senses. 
This  faculty  enables  them  to  discover  an  object,  to  follow 
a  person,  or  to  read  a  letter  at  a  distance,  as  is  proved, 
amongst  others,  by  the  experiments  carried  out  by  M. 
Ferroul,  M.  Bruynel,  and  myself. 

In  the  second  category  we  place  the  cases  in  which  the 
medium  states  things  which  are  only  known  to  a  deceased 
person,  and  of  which  there  does  not  exist  any  material  or 
written  trace. 

It  seems  very  unlikely  that  cases  of  this  nature  should 
present  themselves  with  certainty,  but  we  desire  to  admit 
all  the  hypotheses.  What  can  most  easily  happen  is  that 
the  case  does  not  present  the  usual  conditions  in  which 
lucidity  is  manifested,  and  thus  the  researcher  may  be  led 
to  another  interpretation. 


276  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

We  may  again  find  this  interpretation  in  a  phenomenon 
of  thought-transmission,  in  which  the  deceased  person  is 
the  agent  and  the  medium  the  percipient.  This  trans- 
mission of  thought  may  again  be  exercised  a  long  time 
after  the  death  of  the  agent.  We  have  seen,  in  fact,  in 
the  laws  of  the  transmission  of  thought  (see  last  law  k), 
that  the  act  of  the  transmission  and  the  act  of  the  recep- 
tion of  thought  are  not  necessarily  simultaneous ;  there 
may  be  a  lapse  of  time,  longer  or  shorter,  between  the 
moment  at  which  the  agent  sends  forth  the  thought  and 
the  moment  when  the  percipient  receives  it. 

This  circumstance  ought  not  to  astonish  us.  We  are 
accustomed,  in  fact,  to  recognise  that  the  vibrations  which 
produce  sound  are  transmitted  so  slowly  that  we  become 
aware  of  the  delay  at  a  comparatively  short  distance. 
With  luminous  rays  the  propagation  is  much  more  rapid, 
and  we  must  base  our  calculations  on  infinitely  greater 
distances.  We  know,  however,  that  the  luminous  rays 
coming  from  certain  stars  take  a  considerable  time,  many 
years  even,  to  reach  us.  More  than  that,  Ave  know  again 
that  certain  stars,  of  which  we  now  see  the  luminous  rays, 
have  quite  disappeared  from  the  place  where  we  think  we 
see  them.  These  luminous  vibrations  are  therefore  latent, 
and  require,  in  order  to  be  perceived,  that  our  eye  should 
take  the  position  which  it  ought  to  have  in  order  to  re- 
ceive them,  as  if  the  source  of  emission  were  still  in  exist- 
ence— that  is  to  say,  that  our  eye  must  be  in  a  certain 
state  of  receptivity.  What  is  there  surprising,  then,  if 
these  vibrations,  emitted  by  a  living  organism,  also  remain 
latent  until  a  percipient  vibrates  in  unison  with  them — 
that  is  to  say,  is  in  a  state  of  receptivity  capable  of 
perceiving  them  ? 

This  is  a  simple  hypothesis,  if  you  will,  but  rational 
enough,  presenting  striking  analogies  with  other  and 
better-known  phenomena,  and  which  enables  us  to  inter- 
pret one  of  the  facts  which  appear  the  most  difficult  of 
analysis  among  those  presented  by  mediums. 

We  desire  to  state  precisely  that  this  does  not  cause 
us  to  reject  any  other  hypothesis  whatever,  but  we  con- 


TYPTOLOGY  277 

sider  the  one  which  we  have  stated  as  being  among  the 
most  admissible  in  the  actual  state  of  the  experiments  as 
known  to  us. 

A  certain  number  of  facts  also  lead  us  to  regard 
thought  in  a  different  manner  from  the  conception 
generally  held. 

According  to  this  hypothesis,  thought  is  not  a  purely 
abstract  phenomenon.  All  thought  created  by  the  mind 
has  a  characteristic  entity  which  is  indestructible,  or,  at 
least,  which  leaves  an  imperishable  trace.  This  entity  is, 
on  the  mental  plane,  a  picture  representing  the  thought — 
a  picture  henceforth  ineffaceable.  Imperceptible  to  every 
mind  in  the  normal  condition,  this  picture  only  becomes 
accessible  to  certain  subjects  possessing  peculiar  faculties, 
chief  among  which  is  the  faculty  of  lucidity. 

The  perception  of  thoughts,  on  the  mental  plane, 
requires  that  the  subject  should  be  in  a  peculiar  con- 
dition, different  from  the  normal,  like  that  which  is 
necessary  for  them  to  exercise  their  faculty  of  lucidity. 
This  hypothesis — a  purely  working  hypothesis,  if  you 
will — adapts  itself  admirably  to  what  Ave  know  of  the 
faculty  of  lucidity.  It  gives  us  a  very  plausible  inter- 
pretation of  the  phenomena  of  typtology  which  are  the 
most  difficult  to  explain,  and,  moreover,  it  also  gives  us 
the  explanation  of  telepathic  facts  which  are  out  of 
the  ordinary,  and  which  appear  to  us  to  be  otherwise 
inexplicable. 

In  other  classes  of  facts — for  example,  the  photograph- 
ing of  the  picture  of  the  thing  thought  of — we  have,  so  to 
speak,  along  with  the  explanation  of  the  phenomenon, 
a  proof  of  the  well-foundedness  of  this  hypothesis,  since 
thought  creates  a  picture  which,  without  being  perceptible 
to  our  senses,  is  able  to  impress  the  photographic  plate. 

In  some  phenomena  of  externalisation  of  force,  when 
the  force  acts  in  an  intelligent  manner,  and  in  material- 
isations, it  is  still  this  mental  thought  image  which  is 
strengthened  by  the  accumulation  of  the  thoughts  of  a 
group  of  persons,  condensed  by  the  medium.  This  mental 
image  receives  its  form  by  the  mental  effort  of  all  present, 


278  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

and  therefore  it  corresponds  to  the  whole  of  the  ideas 
which  predominate  among  the  group;  but  only  certain 
mediums  are  able  to  give  it  a  sufficient  cohesion  for  it  to 
be  perceived  by  one  or  more  of  our  normal  senses.  Most 
frequently  it  is  the  sense  of  sight  or  hearing  that  is  first 
affected,  so  that  we  have  visions,  apparitions,  and  abnormal 
noises.  Then  in  other  cases,  with  mediums  possessing 
higher  faculties,  the  mental  picture  is  materialised  further, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  exercise  an  impression  of  contact 
either  on  persons  or  on  objects;  finally,  in  the  cases  of  still 
higher  phenomena,  by  means  of  material  elements,  bor- 
rowed either  from  the  medium  or  the  spectators  or  from 
the  surrounding  matter,  some  of  the  materialised  pictures 
leave  a  part  of  this  new  material  form  remaining  as  per- 
manent features  of  their  passing,  even  after  the  medium 
has  returned  to  his  normal  condition  and  ceased  to  exercise 
his  mediumistic  faculties. 

This  hypothesis  can,  we  think,  be  applied  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  certain  cases,  and  it  will  be  useful  for  us  in 
understanding  some  of  the  phenomena,  particularly  if  we 
do  not  fall  into  the  error  of  trying  to  generalise  at  all 
costs. 

Other  interpretations,  again,  can  be  adapted  to  difterent 
cases,  and  I  must  repeat  here  that  I  do  not  reject,  a  iwim^i, 
any  hypothesis.  I  am  therefore  not  afraid  to  say  that  I 
am  quite  disposed  to  admit  the  spiritistic  hypothesis  in 
cases  where  other  theories,  already  verified  by  other  ex- 
periments, are  shown  to  be  insufficient,  and  where  the 
spiritistic  hypothesis  supplies  a  better  explanation  of  the 
phenomena. 

We  have  not,  in  fact,  any  repugnance  to  admitting 
that  a  spirit,  separated  from  any  physical  body,  can  enter 
into  communication  with  us.  It  is  rather  those  who  will 
not  recognise  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  entities 
independent  of  the  body  who  are  the  dupes  of  a  singular 
illusion. 

Our  bodies  only  possess  five  senses,  by  means  of  which 
we  are  in  communication  with  the  external  world.  It 
results  from  this  that  we  have  become  accustomed  to  refer 


TYPTOLOGY  279 

everything  to  the  exercise  of  these  senses.  We  judge  all 
the  objects  that  surround  us  according  to  the  impressions 
they  produce  on  our  difterent  sense-organs;  but  that  is 
only  a  limitation  arising  from  our  nature,  and  we  should 
show  ourselves  very  narrow-minded  if  we  claimed  to  deny 
the  existence  of  everything  that  does  not  fall  within  the 
range  of  our  senses. 

In  a  different  and  more  restricted  order  of  things,  what 
discussions  have  we  not  seen  arise,  for  example,  on  the 
possibility  of  life  on  planets  other  than  our  own  ?  Some 
learned  men  have  denied  this  possibility,  basing  their 
arguments  on  the  evidence  they  have  been  able  to  secure 
on  the  subject  of  these  stars,  such  as  their  temperature, 
absence  of  water,  absence  of  respirable  atmosphere,  &c. 
All  these  objections  were  based  on  the  fact  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  beings  like  ourselves,  endowed  with  a 
physiological  nature  similar  to  that  of  the  beings  who 
live  on  the  earth,  to  live  under  different  conditions.  If  we 
consider  things  from  this  point  of  view,  it  is  very  evident 
that  no  man  like  ourselves  could  live  outside  of  the 
physiological  conditions  for  which  our  organs  are  consti- 
tuted. But  is  that  a  serious  reason  for  affirming  that  life 
cannot  exist  there  ?  Are  our  minds  so  narroAv  that  we 
cannot  conceive  of  beings  constituted  differently  from 
ourselves. 

Our  senses  are  only  narrow  windows,  through  Avhich 
our  mind  can  regard  a  very  limited  portion  of  the  immense 
reality.  Let  us  suppose  a  man  shut  up  in  a  cabin  having 
only  one  small  opening  through  which  he  could  see  out- 
side. Through  this  opening  he  sees  all  that  comes  within 
the  radius  of  his  vision — light,  a  small  patch  of  the  sky, 
trees,  plants,  &c.  But  what  should  we  say  of  that  man  if 
he  tried  to  maintain  that  nothing  existed  beyond  what  he 
could  see  ?  What  should  we  think  of  him  if  he  stated  that 
nothing  existed,  either  to  right  or  left  of  his  cabin,  beyond 
what  he  could  see  through  his  little  peep-hole  ? 

The  position  of  man  in  the  universe  is  identical  with 
that  of  this  prisoner  :  he  has  been  so  much  accustomed 
from  his  birth  to  judge  everything  by  the  impressions 


280  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

that  he  receives  through  the  organs  of  his  senses  that  it 
requires  an  effort  for  him  to  rise  to  the  conception  of  any- 
thing different ;  nevertheless,  it  would  be  the  most  absurd 
thing  of  all  for  him  to  believe  that  he  could  know  every- 
thing, and  that  nothing  existed  beyond  what  he  could 
comprehend. 


( 


CHAPTER  XXI 
LUCIDITY 

Nature  and  Extent  of  the  PhenoTnena 

Lucidity  is  a  faculty  by  means  of  which  a  subject  has 
knowledge  of  things  not  within  the  range  of  the  normal 
senses. 

Only  certain  subjects  possess  this  faculty,  and  it  may 
then  be  developed  by  practice  and  methodical  training; 
but  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  possible  for  a  subject  to 
acquire  it  who  did  not  naturally  possess  the  elementary 
germ. 

In  the  case  of  subjects  who  possess  this  faculty  it  is 
well  to  train  it ;  because  this  faculty,  like  all  others,  can 
diminish,  and  may  even  be  lost,  if  it  is  not  cultivated. 

The  faculty  of  lucidity,  in  the  case  of  those  who  possess 
it,  is  not  permanently  exercised,  but  requires  for  mani- 
festation a  special  condition  other  than  the  normal. 

Condition  of  the  Subject  in  whom  Lucidity 

is  Manifested 

In  a  general  manner  we  may  say  that  the  subject  in 
whom  lucidity  is  manifested  is  always,  at  the  moment  of 
the  occurrence  of  the  phenomenon,  in  a  hypnotic  condi- 
tion ;  but  we  can  divide  these  hypnotic  states,  in  which 
lucidity  is  manifested,  into  three  classes : — 

1.  The  subject  may  be  apparently  in  a  waking  state, 
and  may  seem  to  be  still  in  his  normal  condition. 

This  happens  with  subjects  in  whom  lucidity  is  mani- 
fested in  the  course  of  conversation,  for  example. 

281 


282  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

It  is  also  the  case  with  subjects  in  whom  kicidity  is 
manifested  in  the  course  of  a  chiromantic  examination. 

At  other  times,  though  more  rarely,  lucidity  is  mani- 
fested in  the  course  of  any  occupation  whatever;  the 
subject  begins  spontaneously  to  talk,  and  reveals  what  he 
has  perceived  by  lucidity. 

In  all  these  cases,  to  which  might  be  added  several  others 
of  the  same  character,  the  subject  may  appear  to  unprac- 
tised eyes  to  be  in  a  normal,  waking  condition.  But  an 
observer  accustomed  to  the  study  of  hypnotic  phenomena 
would  have  no  trouble  in  noticing  at  a  certain  time  a 
peculiar  fixing  of  the  eyes,  a  vague  look,  and  a  sluggishness 
or  peculiar  automatism  in  certain  movements,  indicating 
the  passing  to  that  state  which  some  authors  have  called 
somnambulistic  waking,  and  which  we  have  placed  among 
the  first  degrees  of  the  somnambulistic  condition,  because 
we  have  demonstrated  that  this  is  no  longer  a  waking 
condition.^ 

This  somnambulistic  condition  of  the  first  degree  into 
which  the  subject  enters,  apparently  quite  spontaneously, 
disperses  just  as  spontaneously,  so  that  the  subject 
appears  not  to  have  left  the  waking  condition  in  which 
he  then  again  finds  himself. 

2.  The  subject  is  in  a  condition  of  light  hypnosis, 
induced  by  artificial  means. 

This  is  what  we  observe  in  crystal  vision.  We  have 
already  studied  this  question,  and  have  seen  that  the 
experiment  of  crystal-gazing  very  frequently  gives  place 
to  the  manifestation  of  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity.  It 
is  the  same  with  audition  in  the  sea-shell. 

In  both  cases  the  expectant  attention,  accompanied  by 
the  fixed  gaze  on  a  brilliant  object  in  the  crystal  vision, 
and  by  the  monotonous  and  continuous  murmuring  of  the 
sea-shell,  in  the  second  instance,  is  of  just  such  a  nature 
as  to  induce  this  hypnotic  condition. 

Although  most  frequently  there  may  be  nothing  of 
this  nature  in  persons  who  profess  to  have  clairvoyant 

*  See  the  author's  Treatise  on  Eorpcrimental  a)id  Therapeutic  Hypnotism. 


LUCIDITY  283 

power,  we  know  that  this  phenomenon  may  sometimes  be 
observed  in  them  in  a  very  real  manner. 

The  following  cases  ought  to  be  included  in  the  present 
category ;  for  cotfee  grounds,  the  egg,  the  glass,  or  the 
mirror  play  absolutely  the  same  part  as  the  crystal  ball, 
both  that  of  inducing  the  hypnotic  condition  necessary 
for  the  manifestation  of  the  faculty  of  lucidity,  and  that 
of  causing  the  various  rays  which  come  from  the  object 
employed  to  be  transformed  into  visual  hallucination. 

We  shall  also  include  in  this  category  the  phenomena 
of  lucidity  which  are  manifested  by  means  of  typtology  or 
automatic  writing.  The  medium,  who  is  the  subject  pos- 
sessing the  faculty  of  lucidity,  is  placed  in  the  hypnotic 
condition  by  the  fixity  of  attention  and  gaze. 

We  considered  some  instances  of  lucidity  through 
typtology  in  a  special  chapter,  when  we  studied  experi- 
ments in  typtology,  which  offered  still  other  phenomena 
than  lucidity. 

3.  The  subject  is  in  a  condition  of  deep  somnambulism. 

Two  cases  may  here  be  mentioned :  that  when  the 
somnambulism  is  spontaneous,  and  that  when  it  is  induced. 

With  regard  to  spontaneous  somnambulism,  the  sub- 
ject passes  into  this  condition  during  sleep ;  he  is  seen  to 
be  restless,  as  in  a  dream ;  he  is  heard  to  speak,  and 
the  phenomenon  of  lucidity  is  manifested  in  this  som- 
nambulistic dream. 

The  most  frequent  and  the  most  interesting  cases  are 
those  in  which  lucidity  is  manifested  in  a  condition  of 
induced  somnambulism. 

This  is  the  case  with  hypnotic  subjects  more  or  less 
trained,  in  whom  the  hypnotiser  has  discovered  the 
existence  of  this  faculty  of  lucidity. 

He  places  them,  in  the  ordinary  manner,  which  we 
have  studied  in  the  Treatise  on  Hypnotism,  in  a  condition 
of  deep  somnambulism,  and  in  that  condition  they  may 
exercise,  in  the  most  varied  and  extensive  manner,  the 
faculty  of  lucidity. 


284  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

Objects  of  Lucid  Perception 
Lucidity  considered  in  its  Object 

The  objects  perceived  by  the  faculty  of  lucidity  may 
be  very  varied,  and  perhaps  also  varying  in  simplicity 
or  complexity. 

The  most  simple  object  may  be  something  material, 
which  the  subject  perceives  as  it  is  and  describes  in  all 
its  detail,  whether  he  previously  knew  the  thing  itself 
or  something  similar,  or  whether  the  object  is  quite 
unknown  to  him  and  he  never  had  any  previous  notion 
of  any  similar  object.  In  that  case  he  describes  the 
object  as  it  really  exists  and  as  he  perceives  it ;  but  he 
knows  nothing  of  the  place  where  it  is  or  of  its  surround- 
ings, and  he  knows  nothing  of  the  use  to  which  it  has 
been  put,  nor  what  will  eventually  become  of  it. 

Lucidity  may  have  a  person — either  living  or  deceased 
— for  its  object. 

The  subject  will  describe  this  person  as  he  perceives 
him,  and  this  perception,  in  the  case  of  true  lucidity, 
corresponds  to  a  reality.  But  it  should  be  observed  that 
this  reality  may  not  be  that  of  the  present  moment ;  the 
subject  then  perceives  the  individual  correctly,  but  at  a 
time  more  or  less  remote.  If  it  is  a  deceased  person,  he 
perceives  him  at  an  epoch  of  his  life,  determined  by  certain 
circumstances  which  we  shall  consider  later. 

If  the  individual  is  living  he  may  see  him  at  some 
previous  epoch,  or  at  the  same  moment  when  he  describes 
him,  or  at  some  future  time,  more  or  less  distant. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  subject  describes  first  tli^ 
external  aspect  of  the  person — his  clothing,  his  attitude, 
his  features;  and  he  will  describe  with  such  exactitude 
of  detail  that  those  present  who  know  the  individual  will 
have  no  hesitation  in  recognising  him. 

The  subject,  again,  may  not  confine  himself  to  the 
external  aspect  of  the  person  he  perceives ;  but  lucidity 
may  enable  him  to  discover  the  traits  of  his  character,  his 


LUCIDITY  285 

qualities  and  defects,  his  tendencies  and  habits ;  he  may 
give  a  moral  description  of  the  person,  as  correct  as  the 
physical  portrait,  and  make  an  analysis  which  will 
astonish  even  those  who  know  him  most  intimately. 

The  perception  of  the  subject  in  the  state  of  lucidity 
may  not  be  limited  to  a  thing  or  a  person,  but  may  extend 
to  a  whole  scene. 

The  subject  will  then  describe  the  surroundings  in 
which  he  sees  various  people  moving.  He  will  give  exact 
details  of  the  place  in  which  they  are,  of  the  relations 
between  the  different  persons,  and  of  the  small  objects 
around  them,  as  though  he  were  on  the  spot. 

The  perception  of  the  subject  instead  of  extending  to 
the  description  of  a  scene  may  bear  more  particularly  on 
one  fact.  It  is  then  the  circumstances  of  this  fact  which 
will  form  the  object  of  particular  details  which  the  subject 
will  give,  and  he  may  give  these  details  with  as  great 
precision  as  when  he  was  describing  a  material  thing  or  a 
person.  We  can,  in  these  cases,  ascertain  through  him 
the  way  in  which  a  thing  happened  with  an  exactitude 
greater  than  that  of  the  combined  testimony  of  personal 
witnesses.  For  the  subject  perceives  and  describes  the 
fact  as  he  would  have  described  it  at  the  moment  when  it 
took  place,  whilst  the  evidence  of  personal  witnesses  would 
have  been  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  different  im- 
pressions which  the  various  witnesses  would  have  received 
and  the  possible  defects  of  their  memory. 

We  will  consider  also  the  application  of  the  lucidity 
of  the  subject  to  an  action,  as  being  somewhat  different 
from  that  exercised  on  a  fact. 

A  fact  is  the  result  of  one  or  of  several  actions ;  but 
action  may  be  considered  as  a  movement  more  prolonged 
in  space  and  time  than  a  fact. 

Now,  the  lucidity  of  a  subject  may  have  for  its  object 
the  perception  of  a  complete  action.  The  subject  will 
then  perceive  the  person  or  persons  who  take  part  in  this 
action ;  he  will  recognise  them  and  describe  them  with 
exactitude ;  he  will  follow  them  step  by  step  in  the 
different   phases   of  the   action   which   they   set    out   to 


286  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

accomplish.  The  subject  can  describe  to  you  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  act ;  he  will  know  the  projects  which  preceded 
it ;  he  will  describe  the  preparations ;  he  will  follow  the 
principal  actor,  or  the  one  to  which  he  is  attached,  as  he 
moves  about  from  place  to  place  in  the  preparation  and 
accomplishment  of  this  act ;  and,  finally,  the  perception  of 
the  subject  may  be  prolonged  through  all  the  effects  and 
consequences  of  the  principal  action. 

The  application  of  lucidity  to  an  action  is  therefore 
one  of  the  most  extensive  and  interesting  which  can  be 
met  with. 

Finally,  when  we  rise  to  an  order  of  things  more 
immaterial,  and,  perhaps,  still  more  astonishing,  lucidity 
may  have  for  its  object  thought  itself.  We  have  seen 
that  the  subject  may  give  the  description  and  the  moral 
portrait  of  a  person ;  it  is  certain  that  he  can  also  perceive 
his  thought.  This  phenomenon,  surprising  though  it 
may  be,  is  yet  one  of  the  most  frequent  that  is  witnessed 
when  one  carefully  observes  a  subject  who  possesses  the 
faculty  of  lucidity. 


How  far  Lucidity  may  Extend 

As  regards  its  extent,  lucidity  is  manifested  in  time 
and  space. 

In  time,  lucidity  extends  to  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future. 

In  space,  lucidity  manifests  itself  on  objects  which  are 
in  the  same  place,  on  surrounding  objects,  and  on  distant 
objects. 

The  manifestation  of  lucidity  in  time  and  space  gives 
rise  to  certain  very  important  considerations  on  which  we 
ought  to  dwell  for  a  short  time. 

It  is  difficult,  in  the  first  place,  to  imagine  lucidity  as 
being  exercised  in  the  past,  present,  and  future.  But  we 
can  simplify  this  formula  of  lucidity  in  time  ;  because  if  we 
consider  the  matter  attentively,  we  shall  sec  that  we  have 
only  to  concern  ourselves  with  the  past  and  the  future. 


LUCIDITY  287 

The  present,  in  fact,  does  not  exist ;  it  is  an  imaginary 
conception,  like  a  geometrical  point  or  line. 

Take  one  of  the  most  simple  acts,  the  perception  of  a 
sound  by  your  ear  or  of  an  image  by  your  eye. 

Up  to  the  moment  when  the  sound  arrives  at  your 
auditory  nerve,  up  to  the  moment  when  the  visual  ray 
strikes  your  retina,  this  phenomenon  of  audition  or  of 
vision  is  in  the  future ;  but  at  the  same  moment  that  it  is 
produced  it  no  longer  exists,  it  is  in  the  past. 

And  you  cannot  raise  the  objection  of  a  prolonged 
sensation,  a  durable  sound  or  a  permanent  vision  ;  the 
sensation  which  is  prolonged  is,  in  fact,  only  the  succession 
of  identical  impressions,  repeated  in  a  more  or  less  rapid 
manner,  but  always  transitory,  and  they  are  in  the  past 
immediately  they  have  ceased  to  be  in  the  future. 

The  past  is  therefore  only  the  succession  of  things 
in  the  future  which  have  already  taken  place  in  the  past ; 
and  the  past  leads  us  on  to  the  future  by  a  chain  of 
phenomena  which  does  not  present  any  discontinuity. 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  also  that  lucidity  is 
nothing  else  than  a  phenomenon  of  thought.  Now,  time 
and  space  have  no  existence  for  thought.  You  read  a 
newspaper  which  tells  you  what  is  taking  place  in  the 
antipodes.  Your  thought  is  immediately  transported  to 
that  country,  and,  at  the  very  moment  when  you  are 
reading,  without  making  any  further  effort,  you  perceive 
as  easily  what  is  passing  in  the  antipodes  as  you  know 
what  is  taking  place  where  you  are. 

You  read  the  story  of  the  conquest  of  the  Gauls  by 
Julius  Caesar,  and  the  facts  of  those  remote  times  are 
presented  to  your  thought  with  as  much  ease  and  just  as 
clearly  as  the  facts  of  the  previous  day,  the  account  of 
which  you  read  in  your  newspaper. 

Dreams  are  again  an  example  of  the  ease  with  which 
thought  is  transported,  without  effort,  in  time  and  space. 
You  dream  of  past  or  future  things  with  the  same 
apparent  reality,  you  find  yourself  transported  in  dream  to 
far-distant  countries,  just  as  to  places  very  close  at  hand; 
and  you  feel,  you  act,  you  completely  live,  in  those  times 


288  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

and  in  those  various  places,  without  eifort  and  with  the 
same  impression  of  reality. 

We  must  not  forget  the  analogy  that  exists  between 
dream  and  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity.  We  shall,  there- 
fore, be  no  longer  astonished  that  lucidity,  being  essentially 
a  phenomenon  of  thought,  can  be  exercised  indifferently 
in  time  and  space. 

There  is  one  objection,  which  is  very  frequently  made, 
with  regard  to  the  manifestation  of  lucidity  in  time.  This 
objection  refers  rather  to  a  philosophical  difficulty  than  a 
practical  impossibility,  yet  we  ought  to  examine  it  none 
the  less  carefully ;  it  concerns  free  will  and  the  exercise  of 
the  human  will. 

How  can  we  admit,  we  are  told,  that  a  lucid  subject 
can  tell  us  what  is  to  happen  in  the  future,  since  man,  by 
his  free  will  and  the  exercise  of  his  choice,  can  accomplish 
or  not  such  or  such  act;  that  act,  therefore,  cannot  be 
foreseen,  and,  further,  it  may  modify  other  events. 

We  have  no  wish  to  deny  in  any  way  the  free  will  of 
man,  nor  the  possibility  that  he,  by  his  free  determination, 
can  modify  certain  events.  All  the  discussion  on  this 
point  rests  on  a  false  interpretation  that  is  ordinarily  made 
of  the  prevision  to  which  the  faculty  of  lucidity  has  given 
rise. 

A  prevision  is  not  a  fatality ;  and  because  a  subject 
possesses  the  faculty  of  lucidity,  and  tells  you  that  such 
event  ought  to  happen,  according  to  all  the  logical  con- 
sequences of  probability,  of  which  you  yourself  have  not 
the  perception  because  you  do  not  possess  the  faculty  of 
lucidityr  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  this  fact  Avill 
necessarily  happen. 

No  one  can  deny  that  there  is  a  natural  concatenation 
in  the  succession  of  facts,  which  are  normally  dependent 
one  upon  another.  This  dependence  results  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  facts,  and  logic  enables  us  to  see  their 
connection. 

If  I  see  you  making  preparations  for  departure  and 
getting  your  trunks  ready,  I  can  conclude,  by  simple  logic, 
that  you  are  going  to  undertake  a  journey.     This  fore- 


LUCIDITY  289 

knowledge,  which  is  almost  certain  to  be  realised,  does  not 
in  any  way  modify  your  free  action,  because  it  is  by  the 
determination  of  your  own  will  that  you  set  out  on  the 
journey. 

But  if,  from  more  precise  information,  I  know  that 
a  contrary  order  will  reach  you,  which  will  prevent  your 
departure,  I  can  then  tell  you  that  you  will  not  undertake 
this  voyage,  although  you  have  still  the  intention  and  the 
will  to  make  it,  and  you  do  not  yourself  know  that  your 
determination,  always  free  and  voluntary,  will  be  modified 
by  events. 

We  have  as  an  example  some  very  simple  facts,  which 
everybody  can  forecast  without  possessing  the  faculty  of 
lucidity,  but  in  the  case  of  somewhat  more  complex  facts, 
the  mechanism  is  still  the  same.  The  difference  which 
characterises  lucidity  is  simply  this  :  that  the  subject,  who 
possesses  the  faculty  of  lucidity,  has  the  perception  of 
causes  which  you  cannot  know  in  the  normal  state ;  and, 
further,  thanks  to  this  same  state  of  lucidity,  he  can  fore- 
cast, with  a  logic  infinitely  more  exact  and  certain,  the 
effects  of  the  causes  which  he  perceives. 

It  remains  none  the  less  true  that  a  superior  force  may 
always  oppose  a  known  force,  and  that  your  will  can 
modify  some  events.  But  let  us  not  forget  that  the  lucid 
subject  has  also  the  perception  of  the  quality  of  your  will, 
whether  it  is  feeble,  strong,  or  changeable ;  of  your  character 
and  inclinations;  of  your  interests  and  the  influences 
which  are  exerted  on  you ;  we  have  seen  that  he  can  even 
perceive  exceptional  facts  capable  of  acting  upon  your 
determination.  In  how  many  cases,  then,  can  you  assert 
that  your  free  action  will  turn  against  all  these  factors, 
and  cause  you  to  decide  contrary  to  logic  and  reason  ? 

There  is  no  occasion  to  be  astonished  beyond  measure 
at  this  possibility  that  the  subject  in  a  state  of  lucidity 
can  perceive  things  unknown  and  unperceived  by  all 
persons  in  a  normal  condition.  The  mere  fact  of  the 
hypnotic  state  places  the  subject  beyond  the  reach  of  all 
distractions,  all  external  influences,  and  concentrates  his 
thoughts  exclusively  on  the  object  of  his  researches  and 

T 


290  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

vision.  If  you  add  to  all  this  the  knowledge  he  may 
have,  by  the  same  lucidity,  of  the  character,  inclinations, 
even  the  thoughts  of  the  persons  connected  with  the  object 
of  his  clairvoyance,  we  can  conclude  that  he  is  in  an 
undoubtedly  superior  condition  to  judge  and  appreciate 
things  with  all  possible  correctness  and  to  deduce  with 
unfailing  logic  the  consequences  of  all  he  perceives. 


The  Subject's  Mode  of  Perception 

Perception  is  gained  in  different  ways,  depending  first 
of  all  on  the  object  of  the  lucidity,  and  sometimes  also 
on  the  special  disposition  of  the  subject ;  finally,  in  certain 
special  cases,  on  the  artificial  procedure  (crystal  ball, 
shell,  &c.)  which  may  be  employed  to  induce  the  mani- 
festation of  lucidity. 

Most  frequently  the  perception  is  referred  by  the 
subject  to  the  ordinary  action  of  his  physical  senses. 
Thus  the  subject,  when  describing  what  he  perceives, 
usually  says :  "  I  see  such  and  such  a  thing,"  "  I  perceive 
such  a  detail."  If  you  press  him  a  little,  he  will  say : 
"Wait  until  I  look,  I  cannot  see  very  well,"  &c.  If,  in 
a  scene,  different  people  speak  together,  he  will  tell  you : 
"  I  am  listening,  I  do  not  hear  very  well ;  they  make  a 
noise  which  prevents  me  from  hearing."  You  will  find 
also  that  the  subject  can  tell  a  man's  voice  from  a  woman's 
voice:  he  distinguishes  different  inflexions  of  voice:  you 
will  see  him  sometimes  give  a  start  at  an  unexpected 
sound. 

It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  senses  of  the  subject 
are  not  impressed  in  a  normal  manner,  something  takes 
place  analogous  to  what  happens  in  hypnotic  suggestion, 
when  we  suggest  to  a  subject  to  hear  voices,  to  listen  to 
music,  to  look  at  a  picture,  to  taste  some  food. 

Let  us  remember  that  the  subject  then  experiences 
all  the  sensations  corresponding  to  these  different  senses, 
and,  further,  will  present  all  the  physiological  conse- 
quences which  Avould  be  produced  if  an  external  action 


LUCIDITY  291 

really  impressed  the  sense  organs ;  these  we  shall  witness, 
as  we  have  demonstrated  :  ^  modifications  of  the  eye,  the 
secretion  of  tears,  of  saliva,  &c. 

We  have,  moreover,  in  dreams,  and  particularly  in 
lucid  dreams,  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
subject  perceives  in  this  phenomenon  of  lucidity.  In 
dreams  the  subject  seems  to  act  through  all  his  senses ; 
he  sees,  he  hears,  he  feels,  and  yet  all  his  impressions  are 
the  result  of  a  simple  mental  perception.  It  is  the  same 
in  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity. 

In  other  very  singular  cases,  the  subject  does  not 
perceive  by  sensory  impression ;  he  does  not  see  and  he 
cannot  see,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  which  he  sometimes 
makes,  the  details  of  the  facts  of  which  he  is  mentally 
informed.  But  he  has  the  perception  of  the  impression 
which  this  fact  would  produce  upon  another  person.  It 
seems,  in  these  instances,  that  what  he  originally  ex- 
periences is  the  perception  of  an  emotion  of  vexation, 
joy,  disappointment,  weariness  or  pleasure  experienced 
by  the  person  with  whom  he  is  en  rapport.  He 
then  tries  to  discover  the  cause  which  produces  this 
emotional  impression,  but  he  only  knows  it  in  a  vague 
manner;  he  can  give  some  indications,  but  he  cannot 
define  it  exactly. 

All  this  tends  to  demonstrate  to  us  that  lucidity  is 
really  a  thought  phenomenon ;  and,  in  many  cases,  it  is 
for  the  most  part  a  phenomenon  of  thought-reading  or 
of  thought-transmission. 

The  phenomenon  of  lucidity,  like  other  psychical 
phenomena,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  helps  to  bring  us 
to  this  deduction,  that  thought  is  not  a  simple  transitory 
phenomenon  as  has  hitherto  been  believed. 

Thought  gives  birth  to  an  image  or  an  entity,  of  a 
nature  which  we  cannot  define,  which  is  not  entirely 
fanciful,  but  has  a  real  and  permanent  existence.  This 
is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  thought  can  be  trans- 
mitted across  space,  from  one  mind  to  another ;  also  by 
another  fact,  that  thought  is  able  to  impress  a  photo- 

^  See  the  Author's  Treatise  on  Experimental  and  Therapeutic  Hypnotism. 


292  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

graphic  plate  with  the  form  of  an  image ;  finally,  by  the 
phenomena  of  force,  imprints  and  materialisations,  in  all 
probability  most  frequently  produced  by  the  accumulation 
of  an  immaterial  thought  force,  due  to  the  power  of  a 
special  faculty  of  a  subject  whom  we  call  a  medium. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

LUCIDITY   IN   SPONTANEOUS   SOMNAMBULISM 

I  GIVE  here  an  instance  of  lucidity  in  spontaneous  som- 
nambulism. Although  occurring  at  a  somewhat  distant 
date,  this  case  presents  all  desirable  guarantees  of  authen- 
ticity. In  fact,  it  is  recorded  in  judicial  proceedings  which 
have  recorded  and  authenticated  the  account.  The  situa- 
tion of  the  subject,  who  was  in  prison,  and  the  special 
surveillance  to  which  she  was  subjected,  give  us  a  sure 
guarantee  that  she  could  receive  no  knowledge  of  the 
facts  except  through  the  faculty  of  lucidity.  The  judicial 
documents  also  give  us  an  absolute  guarantee  as  to  the 
date  at  w^hich  the  subject  related  what  she  had  perceived 
in  a  somnambulistic  condition. 

This  fact,  therefore,  is  of  great  importance,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  raise  any  serious  objection  in  regard  to  it. 

We  find  the  account  in  Mrs.  Crowe's  work,  The  Night 
Side  of  Nature. 

"  A  circumstance  fully  as  remarkable  as  any  recorded, 
occurred  at  Odessa,  in  the  year  1842.  An  old  blind  man, 
named  Michel,  had,  for  many  years,  been  accustomed  to 
get  his  living  by  seating  himself  every  morning  on  a  beam 
in  one  of  the  timber  yards,  with  a  wooden  bowl  at  his 
feet,  into  which  the  passengers  cast  their  alms.  This  long- 
continued  practice  had  made  him  well  known  to  the  in- 
habitants, and  as  he  was  believed  to  have  been  formerly 
a  soldier,  his  blindness  was  attributed  to  the  numerous 
wounds  he  had  received  in  battle.  For  his  own  part  he 
spoke  little,  and  never  contradicted  this  opinion. 

"  One  night  Michel,  by  some  accident,  fell  in  with 
a  little  girl  ten  years  old,  named  Powleska,  who  was 
friendless,  and  on  the  verge  of  perishing  with  cold  and 

293 


294  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

hunger.  The  old  man  took  her  home  and  adopted  her, 
and,  from  that  time,  instead  of  sitting  in  the  timber  yards, 
he  went  about  the  streets  in  her  company,  asking  alms 
at  the  doors  of  the  houses.  The  child  called  him  father, 
and  they  were  extremely  happy  together.  But  when  they 
had  pursued  this  mode  of  life  for  about  five  years  a  mis- 
fortune befell  them.  A  theft  having  been  committed  in 
a  house  which  they  had  visited  in  the  morning,  Powleska 
was  suspected  and  arrested,  and  the  blind  man  was  left 
alone  once  more.  But  instead  of  resuming  his  former 
habits,  he  now  disappeared  altogether,  and  as  this  circum- 
stance caused  the  suspicion  to  extend  to  him,  the  girl  was 
brought  before  the  magistrate  to  be  interrogated  with 
regard  to  his  probable  place  of  concealment. 

" '  Do  you  know  where  Michel  is  ? '  inquired  the  magis- 
trate. 

" '  He  is  dead,'  replied  she,  shedding  a  torrent  of  tears. 

"  As  the  girl  had  been  shut  up  for  three  days,  without 
any  means  of  obtaining  information  from  without,  this 
answer,  together  with  her  unfeigned  distress,  naturally 
excited  considerable  surprise. 

" '  Who  told  you  he  was  dead  ? '  they  inquired. 

" '  Nobody.' 

" '  Then  how  can  you  know  it  ? ' 

" '  I  saw  him  killed  ? ' 

"  '  But  you  have  not  been  out  of  the  prison.' 

"  '  But  I  saw  it  nevertheless.' 

" '  But  how  was  that  possible  ?  Explain  what  you 
mean.' 

" '  I  cannot.     All  I  can  say  is,  that  I  saw  him  killed.' 

"  '  When  was  he  killed,  and  how  1 ' 

" '  It  was  the  night  I  was  arrested.' 

" '  That  cannot  be ;  he  was  alive  when  you  were 
seized.' 

" '  Yes,  he  was ;  he  was  killed  an  hour  after  that. 
They  stabbed  him  with  a  knife.' 

"  *  Where  were  you  then  ? ' 

" '  I  can't  tell,  but  I  saw  it.' 

" '  The  confidence  with  which  the  girl  asserted  what 


SPONTANEOUS   SOMNAMBULISM  295 

seemed  to  her  hearers  impossible  and  absurd,  disposed 
them  to  imagine  that  she  was  either  really  insane,  or 
pretending  to  be  so;  so  leaving  Michel  aside,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  interrogate  her  about  the  robbery,  asking  her 
if  she  was  guilty. 

"  •'  Oh  no,'  she  answered. 

"  '  Then  how  came  the  property  to  be  found  about 
you  ? ' 

"  '  I  don't  know ;  I  saw  nothing  but  the  murder.' 

" '  But  there  are  no  grounds  for  supposing  Michel  is 
dead ;  his  body  has  not  been  found.' 

" '  It  is  in  the  aqueduct.' 

" '  And  do  you  know  who  slew  him  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  it  is  a  woman.  Michel  was  walking  very  slowly, 
after  I  was  taken  from  him.  A  woman  came  behind  him 
with  a  large  kitchen-knife ;  but  he  heard  her,  and  turned 
round;  and  then  the  woman  flung  a  piece  of  grey  stuff 
over  his  head,  and  struck  him  repeatedly  with  the  knife ; 
the  grey  stuff  was  much  stained  with  the  blood.  Michel 
fell  at  the  eighth  blow,  and  the  woman  dragged  the  body 
to  the  aqueduct  and  let  it  fall  in  without  ever  lifting  the 
stuff  which  stuck  to  his  face.' 

"  As  it  was  easy  to  verify  these  latter  assertions,  they 
despatched  people  to  the  spot ;  and  there  the  body  was 
found  with  the  piece  of  stuff  over  his  head,  exactly  as  she 
had  described.  But  when  they  asked  her  how  she  knew 
all  this,  she  could  only  answer,  '  I  don't  know.' 

" '  But  you  know  who  killed  him  ? ' 

" '  Not  exactly  ;  it  is  the  same  woman  that  put  out  his 
eyes  ;  but  perhaps  he  will  tell  me  her  name  to-night ;  and 
if  he  does,  I  will  tell  it  to  you.' 

" '  Whom  do  you  mean  by  he  ? ' 

" '  Why,  Michel,  to  be  sure  ! ' 

"  During  the  whole  of  the  following  night,  Avithout 
allowing  her  to  suspect  their  intention,  they  watched  her  ; 
and  it  was  observed  that  she  never  lay  down,  but  sat  upon 
the  bed  in  a  sort  of  lethargic  slumber.  Her  body  was 
quite  motionless,  except  at  intervals,  when  this  repose  was 
interrupted  by  violent  nervous  shocks,  which    pervaded 


296  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

her  whole  frame.  On  the  ensuing  day,  the  moment  she 
was  brought  berfore  the  judge,  she  declared  that  she  was 
now  able  to  tell  them  the  name  of  the  assassin. 

" '  But  stay,'  said  the  magistrate ;  '  did  Michel  never 
tell  you,  when  he  was  alive,  how  he  lost  his  sight  ? ' 

" '  No ;  but  the  morning  before  I  was  arrested,  he 
promised  me  to  do  so ;  and  that  was  the  cause  of  his 
death.' 

"  '  How  could  that  be  ? ' 

" '  Last  night  Michel  came  to  me,  and  he  pointed  to 
the  man  hidden  behind  the  scaffolding  on  which  he  and  I 
had  been  sitting.  He  showed  me  the  man  listening  to  us, 
when  he  said,  '  I'll  tell  you  all  about  that  to-night ; '  and 
then  the  man ' 

" '  Do  you  know  the  name  of  this  man  ? ' 

" '  It  is  Luck ;  he  went  afterwards  to  a  broad  street 
that  leads  down  to  the  harbour,  and  he  entered  the  third 
house  on  the  right ' 

"  '  What  is  the  name  of  the  street  ? ' 

" '  I  don't  know ;  but  the  house  is  one  story  lower  than 
the  adjoining  ones.  Luck  told  Catherine  what  he  had 
heard,  and  she  proposed  to  him  to  assassinate  Michel ; 
but  he  refused,  saying, '  It  is  bad  enough  to  have  burnt 
out  his  eyes  fifteen  years  before  whilst  he  was  asleep  at 
your  door,  and  to  have  kidnapped  him  into  the  country.' 
Then  I  went  in  to  ask  charity,  and  Catherine  put  a  piece 
of  plate  into  my  pocket,  that  I  might  be  arrested ;  then 
she  hid  herself  behind  the  aqueduct  to  wait  for  Michel, 
and  she  killed  him.' 

" '  But  since  you  say  all  this,  why  did  you  keep  the 
plate  ?     Why  didn't  you  warn  Michel  ? ' 

'"But  I  didn't  see  it  then.  Michel  showed  it  to  me 
last  night.' 

" '  But  what  should  induce  Catherine  to  do  this  ? ' 

" '  Michel  was  her  husband,  and  she  had  forsaken  him 
to  come  to  Odessa  and  marry  again.  One  night,  fifteen 
years  ago,  she  saw  Michel,  who  had  come  to  seek  her. 
She  slipped  hastily  into  her  house,  and  Michel,  who 
thought  she  had  not  seen  him,  lay  down  at  her  door  to 


SPONTANEOUS   SOMNAMBULISM  297 

watch ;  but  he  fell  asleep,  and  then  Luck  burnt  out  his 
eyes,  and  carried  him  to  a  distance.' 

" '  And  is  it  Michel  who  has  told  you  this  ? ' 

" '  Yes ;  he  came,  very  pale  and  covered  with  blood ; 
and  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  showed  me  all  this  with 
his  fingers.' 

"  Upon  this,  Luck  and  Catherine  were  arrested ;  and 
it  was  ascertained  that  she  had  actually  been  married 
to  Michel  in  the  year  1819,  at  Kherson.  They  at  first 
denied  the  accusation,  but  Powleska  insisted,  and  they 
subsequently  confessed  the  crime.  When  they  com- 
municated the  circumstances  of  the  confession  to 
Powleska,  she  said :  '  I  was  told  it  last  night.' 

"This  affair  naturally  excited  great  interest,  and 
people  all  round  the  neighbourhood  hastened  into  the 
city  to  learn  the  sentence." 

"Who  shall  venture  to  assert,"  says  Dr.  Ennemoser, 
"  that  this  communing  with  the  dead  in  sleep  is  merely  a 
subjective  phenomenon,  and  that  the  presence  of  these 
apparitions  is  a  pure  illusion  ? " 

I  wish  to  remark  that  I  place  this  fact  in  the  category 
of  phenomena  of  lucidity,  because  it  clearly  indicates  that 
the  subject  has  this  mental  perception,  in  a  special  con- 
dition :  a  phenomenon  which,  as  a  whole,  we  designate 
under  the  name  of  lucidity ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  prejudge 
in  any  way  the  origin  of  this  perception  or  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  produced,  which,  moreover,  may  very  probably 
not  be  the  same  in  all  cases. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

LUCIDITY  IN   A   STATE   OF   LIGHT   SOMNAMBULISM 
ARTIFICIALLY  INDUCED 

We  have  now  to  examine  a  succession  of  phenomena  of 
lucidity  observed  in  persons  Avho  make  a  profession  of 
this  faculty.  We  sliall  see  that  these  facts  in  which 
are  mingled  lucidity  in  the  present,  past,  and  future,  are 
remarkable  for  their  correctness. 

These  facts  come  within  the  category  which  we  have 
described  under  the  title  of  lucidity  in  a  state  of  som- 
nambulism induced  by  artificial  means.  We  believe,  in 
fact,  that  the  looking  at  the  hand,  the  observation  of 
coffee  grounds,  and  all  such  similar  proceedings,  are 
simply  means  that  the  subject  usually  employs  which 
result,  as  their  principal  effect,  in  placing  him  in  a  special 
condition  whereby  the  faculty  of  lucidity  is  manifested. 

The  account  of  the  first  case  was  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
Liebeault,  and  quoted  in  Dr.  Gyel's  work.  The  authority 
of  Dr.  Liebeault  lends  every  guarantee  of  authenticity  to 
the  facts  which  he  relates. 

Observations  of  Dr.  Liebeault 

M.  S.  dc  Ch came  to  consult  me  this  afternoon  at 

four  o'clock  on  account  of  a  nervous  condition,  which  was, 

however,  in  no  way  serious.     M.  de  Ch Avas  greatly 

preoccupied  in  mind  with  reference  to  a  pending  laAvsuit, 
and  also  with  regard  to  the  following  events.  On  Decem- 
ber 26,  1879,  he  was  walking  along  one  of  the  streets  in 
Paris,  when  he  saw  written  over  a  door  "  Mme.  Lenormand, 
Necromancer."  Led  by  curiosity  he  went  into  the  house, 
and  was  taken  into  a  dimly  lighted  room.  He  waited 
there   for   Mme.    Lenormand,   who   came    almost   imme- 


SOMNAMBULISM    ARTIFICIALLY    INDUCED     299 

diately  and  asked  him  to  sit  down  at  a  table.  This  lady 
then  went  out,  came  back,  seated  herself  opposite  to  him, 
looked  into  the  palm  of  one  of  his  hands  and  said : 
"  You  will  lose  your  father  within  a  year  from  to-day. 
You  will  become  a  soldier  at  once  (he  was  then  nineteen 
years  of  age),  but  you  will  not  be  a  soldier  for  long.  You 
will  marry  young,  two  children  will  be  born  to  you,  and 
you  will  die  when  you  are  twenty-six."     This  astounding 

prophecy  which  M.  de  Ch told  to  some  of  his  friends 

and  relations  he  did  not  first  regard  as  serious ;  but  his 
father  died  on  December  27,  1880,  after  a  short  illness, 
just  a  year  after  the  interview  with  the  palmist ;  and  this 
event  somewhat  cooled  his  incredulity.  And  when  he 
became  a  soldier  for  seven  months  only,  married  shortly 
afterwards,  became  the  father  of  two  children,  and  was 
then  just  on  the  point  of  reaching  his  twenty-sixth  year, 
he  became  distracted  with  fear,  and  thought  that  he  had 
but  a  few  days  to  live.  It  was  then  that  he  came  to 
me.     On  the  same  and  the  following  days,  I  tried  to  put 

M.  de  Ch into  a  deep  sleep,  in  order  to  dispel  the 

dark  obsession  engraven  on  his  mind — that  of  his  ap- 
proaching death,  which  he  imagined  would  occur  on 
February  4th,  the  anniversary  of  his  birth,  although 
Mme.  Lenormand  had  not  stated  the  exact  date. 

I  could  not  put  this  young  man  into  even  the  slightest 
sleep,  owing  to  his  great  agitation. 

However,  as  it  was  necessary  to  take  away  the  con- 
viction that  he  was  about  to  die,  a  dangerous  one  (because 
often  convictions  of  this  character  are  accomplished  to 
the  letter  through  auto-suggestion),  I  changed  my  plan 
and  proposed  to  consult  one  of  my  somnambulists,  an  old 
man  of  seventy  years  of  age  known  as  the  prophet,  be- 
cause on  being  put  to  sleep  by  me  he  had  accurately  fore- 
told the  precise  date  when  he  would  be  cured  of  articular 
rheumatism  of  four  years'  standing,  and  even  the  very 
time  when  his  daughter  would  be  cured,  this  last  cure 
being  due  to  the  assertion  impressed  upon  her  by  her 
father,  that  she  would  recover  her  health  at  a  given  time, 
M.  de  Ch at  once  agreed  to  my  proposition  and  kept 


300  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  appointment  which  I  made  with  him.  On  entering 
into  rapport  with  this  somnambulist  his  first  words  were, 
"  When  shall  I  die  ? " 

The  experienced  sleeper,  suspecting  this  young  man's 
trouble,  replied,  after  making  him  wait  awhile — 

"  You  will  die  in  forty-one  years  from  now." 

The  effect  of  these  words  was  marvellous.  The  con- 
sultant immediately  became  merry,  open-hearted,  and  full 
of  hope,  and  when  February  4th  had  passed,  the  day  which 
he  so  greatly  feared,  he  believed  himself  safe. 

I  did  not  think  anything  more  of  this  until  at  the  be- 
ginning of  October  I  received  a  funeral  card,  informing  me 
that  my  unfortunate  client  had  passed  away  on  September 
30,  1885,  in  his  twenty-seventh  year,  that  is  to  say,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-six,  as  Mme.  Lenormand  had  predicted. 

The  following  case,  which  is  of  the  same  character,  is 
taken  from  the  Annates  des  Sciences  Psychiques : — 

"  The  following  strange  but  veridical  facts  were  related 
to  me  by  Mme.  B.  during  the  winter  of  18G9 ;  she  lived 
at  La  Bouille,  a  small  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine, 
near  Rouen.  At  this  time  Mme.  B.  was  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  was  still  unmarried,  and  lived  with  her  family 
in  a  house  on  the  quay  at  La  Bouille. 

"  One  day  when  they  were  having  atrocious  weather 
with  torrents  of  rain  and  snow,  an  old  lady,  soaking  wet, 
came  and  asked  for  hospitality.  She  had  come  by  boat 
from  Rouen  to  La  Bouille,  and  wanted  to  take  the  coach 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  in  a  few  hours.  While  waiting  the 
old  lady  said  that  she  was  going  in  the  direction  of  Havre, 
that  she  was  a  cartomante,  and  asked  Mme.  B.'s  mother  if 
she  would  like  her  to  predict  her  daughter's  future.  Both 
accepted  with  pleasure.  Then  the  cartomante  (who  was 
also  a  clairvoyante)  looked  long  into  the  hand  of  the 
young  girl,  and  asked  the  mother  for  some  cofi'ee  grounds, 
which  she  arranged  in  a  certain  way.  Having  looked 
carefully  into  these  grounds,  and  concluded  her  observa- 
tions, she  made  the  following  predictions  to  the  young 
girl,  which  were  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter. 


SOMNAMBULISM    ARTIFICIALLY   INDUCED     301 

"  First  of  all  she  said  to  her : 

" '  At  the  present  moment  you  are  in  love  with  a  young 
man  who  lives  far  from  here,  you  expect  him  to-day,  and 
this  is  the  place  reserved  for  him.'  She  pointed  out  the 
place  at  the  table  on  which  eight  covers  were  laid,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  mark  this  place  more  than  any 
other.  'This  young  man  will  not  come — his  father  has 
locked  him  in ;  he  escaped  through  the  window  at  the 
risk  of  breaking  his  neck,  and  his  father,  an  arbitrary  and 
violent  man,  overtook  him,  and  has  forbidden  him,  under 
very  great  threats,  ever  to  see  you  again.  He  will  marry 
later  and  be  very  unhappy.' 

"  Some  time  afterwards,  through  a  friend  of  this  young 
man,  the  family  learned  that  all  that  the  cartomante  had 
said  was  true,  and  it  was  exactly  as  she  had  related.  The 
young  man  never  came  again,  and  on  the  urgent  instance 
of  his  father  married  a  rich  young  woman  with  whom  he 
lived  very  unhappily,  and  finally  they  were  separated. 

"  But  strangest  of  all  was  the  prediction  which 
followed. 

" '  As  to  the  future,'  continued  the  cartomante,  '  you 
will  shortly  leave  La  Bouille,  then  in  the  place  to  which 
you  will  go,  not  far  from  Blois,  you  will  meet  a  young  man 
who  will  ask  you  to  marry  him  ;  but  as  he  is  much  younger 
than  you,  several  persons  Avill  oppose  this  marriage.  This 
young  man  will  draw  a  bad  number  in  the  conscription, 
but  he  will  not  serve,  as  he  will  be  discharged.  You  will 
be  very  happy  with  this  young  man,  but  he  will  die 
young.' 

"  The  whole  of  this  prediction  was  realised  to  the  letter. 
Mme.  B.,  then  Mile.  M.,  went  to  live  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Blois;  she  one  day  met  M.  B.,  who  was  seven  years  younger 
than  herself;  he  asked  her  to  marry  him,  and  in  spite  of 
the  opposition  of  the  two  families,  who  pointed  out  the 
great  difference  in  their  ages,  they  were  married. 

"  The  following  year  M.  B.,  who  was  then  only  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  drew  number  four,  one  of  the  worst 
numbers  in  the  conscription,  but  he  was  discharged  and 
did  not  serve  as  a  soldier.     Twelve  years  afterwards  he 


302  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

died  of  consumption  at  the  age  of  thirty-three.  As  will 
be  seen,  the  whole  prediction  came  true  point  by  point. 
Perhaps  the  cartomante  even  saw  that  the  young  man 
would  die  of  consumption,  but,  seeing  that  the  future 
of  the  two  was  inevitably  fixed,  did  not  wish  to  pain  the 
young  woman. 

"We  can,  perhaps,  suppose  that,  struck  by  this  pre- 
diction, the  young  girl  had  been  caused  by  suggestion  to 
accomplish  this  predicted  destiny  ;  but  this  hypothesis, 
which  certain  sceptics  would  advance,  is  destroyed  by  the 
fact  that  M.  B.  and  Mile.  M.  were  greatly  struck  by  each 
other,  and  fell  in  love  at  first  sight.  Both  of  them,  then 
poor,  had  to  overcome  the  strenuous  opposition  of  both 
their  families,  and  married  in  spite  of  everything.  Mme.  B. 
was  very  happy  in  her  married  life,  but  we  can  understand 
her  fears  and  her  sorrow  when  the  doctors  told  her  that 
her  husband  was  consumptive.  Fortunately  for  his  peace 
of  mind,  his  wife  had  never  uttered  one  word  as  to  these 
predictions." 

Here,  finally,  is  a  case  Avhich  is  even  more  interesting 
than  the  preceding  ones,  because  the  lucid  subject  gave 
many  more  details,  which  were  all  verified.  One  im- 
portant fact  which  will  not  fail  to  be  noticed  is  that  cer- 
tain details  were  so  completely  opposed  to  the  ideas  of 
the  persons  who  were  in  the  company  of  the  lucid  subject, 
that,  while  testifying  to  the  absolute  correctness  of  other 
points,  they  could  not  help  believing  for  a  long  time 
that  the  subject  had  made  a  mistake  in  regard  to  the 
particulars  in  question.  The  accuracy  of  these  details, 
however,  was  demonstrated  later  by  a  judicial  inquiry, 
which  remains  as  undeniable  proof  of  their  authenticity. 

M.  L.  D.  Ervieux  has  related  in  the  Annates  des 
Sciences  Psychiqives  the  following  case  of  extraordinary 
clairvoyance : — 

"  Some  may  still  remember  the  form  of  the  old  block 
of  buildings  which  stood  between  the  Rue  Washington 
and  the  Rue  Bel-Respiro,  in  the  Champs-!^lysees  in  Paris. 
Instead  of  the  immense  building  lighted  by  electricity, 


SOMNAMBULISM    ARTIFICIALLY   INDUCED     303 

there  were  then  two  houses;  the  one  was  partially  destroyed 
by  fire  and  was  abandoned  by  the  tenants  and  owners ;  the 
other  stood  back  from  the  road,  across  a  courtyard, 
separated  from  the  street  by  railings.  It  was  always  let 
to  temporary  residents.  All  the  suites  of  rooms  were 
furnished,  the  rents  were  very  high,  and  they  could  only 
be  taken  by  rich  people. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1883  Lady  A.  had  taken  the  entresol 
and  first-floor  in  this  house.  Her  family  was  large,  and 
she  kept  several  servants.  Although  she  had  several 
carriages  and  coachmen,  it  very  rarely  happened  that  all 
the  members  of  the  family  were  absent  at  the  same  time. 

"However,  one  day  in  September  or  October,  1883 
(the  exact  date  can  be  ascertained  at  the  police  office  in 
Rue  Berryer),  the  house  was  left  solely  in  the  charge  of 
the  servants  for  half-an-hour. 

"  On  that  day  I  dined  with  Lady  A.  Everything  when 
I  arrived  was  in  its  normal  state — at  least  it  appeared  to 
be  so — and  it  was  the  same  when  I  left  between  eleven 
o'clock  and  midnight. 

"  Lady  A.,  in  spite  of  her  great  fortune,  was  a  methodical 
woman,  and  very  active,  only  allowing  herself  a  few  hours 
of  sleep.  Every  evening,  when  her  guests  had  left,  she 
made  up  her  accounts. 

"  Her  astonishment  and  consternation  were  great  when 
she  found  that  evening  that  the  sum  of  3500  or  3600 
francs  was  missing  from  the  inner  pocket  of  an  immense 
travelling-bag,  in  which  she  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping 
her  jewels  and  money. 

"  The  lock,  however,  had  not  been  forced;  only  the  edge 
of  the  bag  seemed  to  have  been  somewhat  separated. 
Yet  Lady  A,  was  certain  that  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  in  the  presence  of  her  maid,  she  had  opened 
her  bag,  paid  a  bill,  and  put  back  the  money  in  the  usual 
place.  In  her  trouble  she  did  what  every  one  else  would 
doubtless  have  done  in  similar  circumstances,  she  rang 
for  her  maid,  who  did  not  know  anything  of  the  matter, 
but  who  had  time  to  tell  the  servants  of  the  theft  that  had 
been  committed.     So  that  the  thief  or  thieves,  if  they 


304  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

were  among  the  servants,  could  put  the  stolen  money  in  a 
phice  of  safety. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  following  day  the  police,  who 
had  been  informed  of  the  matter,  came  to  Lady  A.'s  house. 
They  examined  the  family  and  servants,  the  cupboards, 
the  shelves,  all  the  furniture,  in  fact. 

"  Naturally  they  found  nothing. 

"  The  superintendent,  having  concluded  his  fruitless 
search,  conversed  for  a  moment  with  Lady  A.  He  asked 
her  what  were  her  impressions  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  theft  had  been  carried  out,  which  of  her  servants  were 
least  trustworthy,  in  order  that  he  might,  with  more 
certainty,  carry  out  his  investigations. 

"  Lady  A.,  in  enumerating  her  servants,  asked  the 
superintendent  to  exclude  from  his  suspicions  the  second 
valet,  a  young  man  of  nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age,  of 
good  appearance,  very  respectful,  well  used  to  her  service, 
who  had  earned  the  nickname  of  'Le  Petit,'  not  on  account 
of  his  stature,  for  he  was  rather  tall,  but  from  a  sentiment  of 
kindly  familiarity  resulting  from  his  good  qualities.  As  to 
the  butler  and  the  lady's-maid — more  particularly  attached 
to  the  personal  service  of  Lady  A.  than  any  of  the  others 
— the  mistress  abandoned  them  to  the  worst  suspicions  of 
the  police.  It  was  decided,  nevertheless,  acting  on  the 
advice  of  the  superintendent,  that  Lady  A.,  in  spite  of  her 
desire  to  send  them  away  at  once,  should  keep  those  two 
servants  at  least  a  fortnight  longer,  in  order  to  make  it 
easier  for  the  detectives  to  follow  their  movements. 

"  The  morning  was  almost  entirely  spent  in  these 
formalities  without  any  result,  when,  about  eleven  o'clock, 
Lady  A.  sent  her  youngest  daughter's  governess  to  my 
house  to  tell  me  what  had  happened,  and  to  ask  me  to 
accompany  this  lady  to  a  clairvoyante  whose  gift  of  lucidity 
I  had  some  days  previously  alluded  to. 

"  I  did  not  myself  know  this  clairvoyante,  but  a  female 
relative  had  told  me  of  a  consultation  she  had  had  with 
her,  when  she  greatly  astonished  her  with  a  prediction  of 
the  future. 

"  I  did  not  even   know  where  this  prodigy  lived,  so 


SOMNAMBULISM    ARTIFICIALLY   INDUCED     305 

I  went  first  of  all  with  Mile.  C.  to  find  out  her  address  in 
order  that  we  might  go  there  immediately. 

"  Her  house  was  behind  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of 
Loretto.  Her  staircase  was  in  the  courtyard,  and  a  small 
placard  indicated  the  floor  on  which  she  lived. 

"  The  interior  was  more  than  modest.  She  herself 
opened  the  door.  vShe  showed  us  into  a  green  drawing- 
room,  like  that  of  any  small  dentist,  except  for  a  magnifi- 
cent engraving  after  Raphael,  '  God  Dispersing  Chaos,' 
and  a  painting  referring  to  some  legend  of  the  Kabbala. 

"  As  there  were  two  of  us  she  wished  to  separate  us ; 
but  we  made  her  understand  that  as  we  were  both  on 
the  same  errand  Ave  only  wished  for  one  consultation.  She 
may  have  taken  us  for  relatives ;  she  only  asked  us  if  the 
thins:  about  which  we  came  concerned  one  of  us  more  than 
the  other. 

"  I  indicated  Mile.  C.  She,  of  course,  living  with  Lady 
A.,  was  most  concerned  with  the  theft. 

"  Mme.  E.,  our  clairvoyante,  brought  a  bowl  filled  with 
coffee  grounds  and  asked  Mile.  C.  to  blow  upon  it  three 
times,  after  which  the  grounds  were  turned  into  another 
bowl,  the  first  being  placed  over  the  second  in  order  that 
the  contents  might  partly  pass  into  the  new  vessel,  the  first 
bowl  only  retaining  on  the  inside  some  more  or  less  solid 
particles  of  the  powdered  coffee,  which  formed,  when  free 
from  the  liquid,  certain  strange  designs  which  had  no  sig- 
nificance for  us,  but  in  which  the  pythoness  seemed  to  read, 

"  During  this  occult  preparation,  in  order  to  occupy  us. 
Mme.  E.  had  spread  out  her  cards  and  commenced. 

" '  Ah !  but  it  is  a  theft,  and  a  theft  committed  by  some 
one  in  the  house,  and  not  by  some  one  coming  in  sur- 
reptitiously, &c.' 

"  This  promised  well.  We  admitted  that  this  state- 
ment was  true.  As  to  the  thief,  he  unfortunately  was 
unknown  to  us. 

" '  Wait,'  Mme.  E.  said  to  us,  '  I  want  now  to  see  the 
details  in  the  coffee  grounds,  which  must  have  settled.' 

"  She  took  hold  of  the  upturned  bowl,  into  which  Mile. 
C.  again  blew  three  times,  and  then  took  her  eyeglass. 


306  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  Then,  as  though  she  had  been  present  on  the  spot, 
she  described  to  us  Lady  A.'s  house,  bit  by  bit,  without 
being  mistaken  as  to  a  bedroom  or  a  drawing-room.  She 
saw  pass  before  her,  as  in  a  magic-lantern,  seven  servants, 
whose  sex  and  duty  she  told  us  exactly.  Then  going 
again  into  Lady  A.'s  room  she  saw  a  wardrobe  which 
seemed  to  her  very  strange. 

"  '  It  has,'  she  declared  to  us  with  astonishment,  '  a 
cupboard  in  the  centre  with  a  glass  door,  and  on  each  side 
of  this  main  cupboard  there  are  two  others  without  glass, 
and  all  this  is  .  .  .  Oh !  why  is  this  cupboard  never 
closed  ?  And  yet  it  always  has  money  in  it,  which  is  .  .  . 
in  .  .  .  what  a  strange  thing !  ...  it  opens  like  a  purse, 
in  the  form  of  a  pouch  .  .  .  not  like  a  trunk.  .  .  .  Ah !  I 
have  it !  ...  it  is  a  travelling-bag  .  .  .  what  an  idea  to 
put  money  there !  and  particularly  how  imprudent  to 
leave  this  cupboard  open ! ' 

" '  The  thieves  know  the  bag  well  .  .  .  they  did  not 
force  the  lock.  They  brought  a  large  tool  in  order  to 
press  apart  the  two  sides,  then  with  the  aid  of  a  chisel  or 
pliers  they  took  out  the  money,  which  was  in  bank-notes. 
.  .  .  They  contented  themselves  with  that,  because  they 
did  not  know  that  at  the  bottom  there  Avere  some  very 
fine  jewels  and  a  sum  in  gold.  Still,  how  clever  they 
were ! ' 

"  We  had  let  her  talk.  All  that  this  woman  had  said 
astonished  us  in  the  accuracy  of  its  details,  even  the 
smallest. 

"  With  the  exception  of  this  last  revelation  concerning 
the  jewels  and  the  sum  of  money,  of  which  we  knew 
nothing,  but  which  might  have  been  in  the  place  in- 
dicated by  the  clairvoyante,  all  was  correct.  She  was 
fatigued  and  stopped.  We  were  desirous  of  knowing 
more. 

"  We  asked  her,  we  beseeched  her,  to  tell  us  which  of 
the  servants  had  committed  the  theft,  since  she  had  told 
us  that  it  was  one  of  them. 

"  She  declared  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell  without 


SOMNAMBULISM    ARTIFICIALLY   INDUCED     307 

placing  herself  within  the  reach  of  the  French  law,  which 
would  not  allow  a  thief  to  be  recognised  as  such  without 
proofs,  simply  by  the  employment  of  occult  means. 

"  Upon  being  pressed,  however,  she  assured  us  that 
Lady  A.'s  money  would  never  be  recovered :  this  was 
very  probable,  since  the  theft  would  never  be  brought 
home  to  the  thief,  and  then,  what  was  more  astonishing, 
she  said  that  two  years  later  he  would  '  suffer  capital 
punishment.' 

"After  several  futile  attempts,  it  was  clear  that  we 
could  not  draw  anything  further  from  Mme.  E. 

"  We  therefore  went  away,  regretting  that  among  all 
these  perfectly  correct  statements  one  slight  error  should 
have  crept  in. 

"  Every  time  that  she  looked  in  the  coffee  grounds  she 
had  said  that  she  had  seen  '  Le  Petit '  close  to  horses. 

"We  assured  her  that  he  had  never  served  as  foot- 
man, being  always  engaged  on  indoor  work,  and  the 
footmen  lived  with  the  coachmen ;  Mme,  E.  stubbornly 
persisted  in  saying  this.  The  more  we  contradicted  her, 
the  more  she  affirmed  it. 

"  We  ended  by  abandoning  this  mere  trifle,  which, 
however,  displeased  us  as  a  blot  in  a  perfect  picture, 
because  this  consultation  had  been  surprising  in  its 
accuracy. 

"When  we  got  to  Lady  A.'s  house  we  opened  the 
famous  bag,  and  there,  as  Mme.  E.  had  told  us,  the  jewels 
and  gold  were  found  intact.  We  could  hardly  believe 
our  eyes.  When  I  told  the  story  of  the  result  of  our 
consultation  to  Lady  A.,  I  was  glad  that  Mile.  C.  had 
accompanied  me.  I  should  never  have  attempted  to  quote 
all  the  details  so  precisely  as  given  by  the  clairvoyante  of 
the  Rue  Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.  I  only  repeated  them 
later,  because  there  Avere  two  persons  to  hear  them. 

"At  the  end  of  a  fortnight  Lady  A.  discharged  her 
butler  and  lady's-maid.  'Le  Petit,'  without  giving 
reason,  left  Lady  A.'s  service  three  or  four  weeks  later. 
The  money  was  never  recovered,  and  a  year  later  Lady  A. 
set  out  for  Egypt.     Two  years  after  this  event  Lady  A. 


308  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

received  from  the  Seine  Court  of  Justice  a  summons  to  go 
to  Paris  as  witness. 

"  The  author  of  the  theft  at  her  house  had  been 
found.  It  had  been  ascertained  that  '  Le  Petit '  with  all 
his  good  qualities  was  none  other  than  Marchandon,  the 
murderer  of  Mme.  Cornet. 

"As  is  known,  he  suffered  the  capital  penalty,  as 
the  clairvoyante  of  the  Rue  Notre-Dame-de-Lorette  had 
stated,  and  during  the  proceedings  it  was  ascertained  that 
'Le  Petit'  had  in  the  Champs-^filysees,  quite  close  to 
Lady  A.'s  residence,  a  brother  who  was  a  coachman  in 
a  large  house. 

" '  Le  Petit ' — or  Marchandon,  as  he  really  was — spent 
all  his  spare  time  with  his  brother,  as  he  was  very  fond  of 
horses.  This  was  therefore  the  reason  why  Mme.  E.  had 
persisted,  in  spite  of  our  contradictions,  in  saying  that  she 
continually  saw  "  Le  Petit  domestique '  in  the  presence  of 
horses. 

"She  had  again  seen  true  in  this  small  detail  which 
was  revealed  in  the  course  of  the  trial." 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
LUCIDITY  IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM 

We  come  now  to  the  more  demonstrative  and  complex 
phenomena  of  experimental  lucidity :  lucidity  in  induced 
somnambulism. 

The  cases  we  shall  quote  are  furnished  by  various 
experimenters,  and  accompanied  by  verification  of  the 
reality  of  the  facts  perceived  by  the  subjects,  and  by 
proofs  of  the  authenticity,  which  ought  to  render  them 
convincing. 

The  majority  of  authors  who  have  thoroughly  and 
earnestly  studied  hypnotic  phenomena  have,  moreover, 
nearly  always  observed  at  certain  times  similar  cases  of 
lucidity. 

"  I  have  seen  repeated  in  my  presence,"  says  Dr.  Azam 
in  Hypnotisine  et  double  conscience,  "  the  strange  things 
related  of  spontaneous  somnambulism.  I  have  seen  very 
accurate  writing  done  with  a  thick  book  interposed  be- 
tween the  face  and  the  paper ;  I  have  seen  a  very  fine 
needle  threaded  in  the  same  position,  the  subject  walking 
about  a  room  with  the  eyes  tightly  closed  and  bandaged ; 
all  without  any  other  real  guide  than  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  and  perfect  precision  of  movement,  guided  by  the 
hyperesthetic  muscular  sense." 

As  an  example  of  vision  without  the  help  of  the  eyes, 
I  will  first  record  the  following  experiment  of  Dr.  Gibier, 
related  in  his  work  Analyses  des  choses.  (The  subject  was 
hypnotised,  and  a  cotton  pad  placed  on  each  eye  covered 
by  a  large  thick  napkin  tied  behind  the  head.)  "  I  took 
from  my  bookcase  the  first  book  which  came  to  hand, 
opened  it  at  random  above  the  subject's  head,  held  the 
printed  text  within   an  inch  of  the  hair  of  the  young 

309 


310  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

woman  who  was  hypno-magiietised,  and  commanded  her 
to  read  the  first  line  of  the  page  to  her  left.  After  a 
moment's  pause,  she  said :  '  Ah,  yes,  I  see — wait.'  Then 
she  continued :  '  Identity  again  leads  to  unity,  because  if 
the  mind  .  .  .'  I  turned  the  book  over  and  found  that 
the  first  line,  less  two  words,  had  been  correctly  seen  and 
read.  If  I  caused  a  third  person  to  write  a  word,  or  some 
name,  on  the  floor,  with  a  piece  of  chalk  taken  from  an 
adjoining  room,  the  same  young  woman,  with  her  eyes 
bandaged,  would  read  the  word  written,  without  any 
mistake,  as  soon  as  she  had  her  feet  on  it.  She  was  led 
backwards  on  to  the  written  word,  and  she  had  her  head 
stretched  forward  somewhat,  which  enabled  those  present 
to  testify  that  it  was  impossible  for  her,  even  if  she  had 
been  awake,  to  see  under  the  bandage." 

M.  Jules  Cacheu  has  published  in  the  Annates  des 
Sciences  Psychiques  the  following  account  by  Mme. 
Testand,  of  incidents  which  occurred  in  her  presence : — 

"  At  that  time  when  much  attention  was  paid  by  the 
public  to  magnetism,  table-turning,  and  occult  sciences, 
M,  Cuisinier  de  Lisle  thought  of  trying  his  own  magnetic 
power  on  a  young  servant,  Theresa,  about  eighteen  years 
of  age,  then  in  his  employ,  who  was  quite  willing  to 
serve  as  the  subject  of  his  attempt.  The  experiment  was 
wonderfully  successful. 

"  M.  de  Lisle  went  to  work  in  the  following  manner : 

"  Sitting  in  front  of  Theresa,  he  grasped  her  two 
thumbs  firmly  in  each  of  his  hands  and  gazed  fixedly  at 
her.  The  young  girl  went  off  to  sleep,  closing  her  eyes 
tightly,  but  a  little  time  elapsed  before  she  had  a  clear 
vision  and  could  reply  to  questions  put  to  her.  '  Can 
you  see  ? '  asked  the  operator.  '  Not*  yet.'  A  little  later 
she  said,  '  Yes,  I  begin  to  see.'  At  last  she  said,  '  Now 
I  can  see  very  well.' 

"  Then  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  room  were  closed,  she  told  the  names  of 
all  the  people  who  came  into  or  went  out  of  the  house. 
*  Here  is  M. coming  in ;  there  is  Mme. going  out.' 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      311 

"One  day,  being  in  a  magnetic  sleep  with  her  eyes 
closed,  the  servant  Antonio,  also  in  M.  de  Lisle's  employ, 
came  quietly  behind  her  and  '  made  a  face '  at  her ;  she 
immediately  turned  round  and  did  the  same  at  him,  to 
the  great  astonishment  of  the  spectators,  who  could  not 
understand  or  imagine  that  she  had  eyes  in  her  back,  or 
that  she  could  see  behind  her. 

"  Most  of  the  time  it  Avas  not  even  necessary  for  M.  de 
Lisle  to  give  her  verbal  orders :  he  had  only  to  thmk  of 
what  he  wished  her  to  do,  and  she  immediately  carried 
out  all  that  was  in  his  thoughts.  Thus,  when  the  young 
girl  was  in  the  kitchen  and  M.  de  Lisle  at  table  in  the 
dining-room,  she  would  suddenly  come  in  with  a  plate  in 
her  hand,  because  her  master,  without  speaking  a  word, 
had  willed  that  she  should  bring  him  one. 

"  Every  morning,  about  four  or  live  o'clock,  M.  de  Lisle 
would  go  out  to  his  duty  on  his  ship,  anchored  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  shore,  and  would  leave  about  ten 
o'clock  to  go  home  to  Castignan  for  lunch.  The  young 
woman  would  announce  the  time  of  his  arrival  to  within 
a  minute.  She  would  say  to  Mme.  de  Lisle  :  '  Madame,  it 
is  time  to  lay  the  cloth  for  lunch,  I  see  Monsieur  coming 
down  the  ship's  ladder ;  he  is  getting  into  his  boat,  he  will 
be  here  in  twenty  minutes.'  This  never  failed  to  happen 
as  she  had  said. 

"But  the  following  is  the  most  extraordinary  and 
remarkable  fact,  which  happened  in  the  presence  of  Mme. 
Testand-Marchain,  who  can  absolutely  affirm  the  truth  of 
it,  as  of  all  that  has  been  related. 

"  M.  de  Lisle  had  as  lodger  in  his  house,  merely  out  of 
charity  and  without  any  payment,  a  former  schoolmaster 
named  Lorgeril,  then  employed  at  the  Toulon  arsenal. 
One  day  this  Lorgeril  thought  of  marrying  a  person 
living  in  the  town  of  Hyk'es,  four  or  five  leagues  from 
Toulon,  and  asked  permission  to  go  and  pay  his  addresses 
to  her,  and,  if  successful,  to  arrange  the  terms  of  marriage. 

"After  he  had  gone,  M.  de  Lisle  thought  of  finding 
out  through  his  servant  Theresa,  by  putting  her  to  sleep, 
what  Lorgeril  did  during  his  journey,  and  how  his  matri- 


312  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

monial  projects  turned  out.  He  therefore  put  Theresa 
to  sleep. 

"  We  must  say  at  this  point  that  if  M.  cle  Lisle  knew 
the  town  of  Hyeres  he  was  totally  unaware  in  Avhich  street 
and  house  Lorgeril's  fiancee  lived,  and  as  for  Theresa,  she 
did  not  know  the  town  or  even  the  way  to  get  there. 

"  When  she  was  asleep  and  in  a  state  of  vision  he  said 
to  her,  '  I  want  you  to  go  to  Hyeres.' " 

"  She  replied,  '  But,  sir,  how  can  I  ?  I  do  not  even 
know  the  way.' 

" '  I  Avish  you  to  go  there,  try.     Have  you  found  it  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  sir.' 

" '  Well,  walk.' 

"  '  I  am  walking ;  but  it  is  a  long  way,  a  very  long  way, 
and  I  am  not  nearly  there.' 

"  '  Are  you  there  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  sir,  I  have  arrived.  I  see  a  place  where  there 
are  many  palm-trees.' 

" '  Very  good.  Now  look  for  the  house  where 
Lorgeril  is.' 

" '  Ah,  sir,  I  do  not  know  where  it  is.' 

"  '  Look  for  it.' 

"  '  Yes,  sir,  here  is  the  street.  How  steep  it  is ;  what  a 
hill  to  climb  ! ' 

"  '  Are  you  there  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  sir,  I  am  at  the  door  of  the  house,  but  I  dare 
not  go  in.' 

'"I  Avish  you  to  go  in,  enter  ! ' 

" '  Ah,  sir,  there  are  a  lot  of  stairs  before  coming  to  the 
room.' 

"  '  Are  you  there  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  sir.' 

"'Ah,  Avell !  NoAv  knock,  so  that  they  may  open  to 
you.' 

"  At  this  time  she  Avas  close  to  the  mantelpiece.  She 
made  a  motion  as  though  knocking,  but  her  hand  stopped 
just  before  reaching  the  marble,  Avithout  touching  it. 

" '  Have  you  entered  ? ' 

" '  Yes,  sir.     I  see  Lorgeril  very  aa^cII  and  the  person 


LUCIDITY   IiN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      313 

in  question,  they  are  together ;  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
be  coming  to  an  understanding,  and  I  do  not  think  the 
marriage  will  take  place." 

"Just  at  this  moment  M.  de  Lisle,  without  saying 
a  word  to  the  clairvoyant,  formulated,  only  in  his  head, 
this  somewhat  indiscreet  thought,  '  Will  he  stay  at  the 
house  all  night  ? '  '  Oh  no,  sir,  quite  sure,  certainly  not,' 
she  replied  immediately. 

" '  What  do  you  see  in  the  room  ? ' 

" '  I  see  them  getting  up  from  the  table ;  they  have 
finished  eating.' 

"  '  What  have  they  eaten  ? ' 

" '  I  do  not  know,  sir,  the  table  is  cleared.' 

" '  That  does  not  matter,  look  carefully ;  there  must  be 
something  left  on  the  plates.' 

" '  They  have  eaten  some  ragout  of  lamb,  also  some 
orange  salad.' 

" '  I  also  see  on  the  mantelpiece  of  the  room  three 
oranges  which  Lorgeril  has  bought,  and  which  he  will 
bring  to  Toulon  to-morrow  to  give  to  your  three  children. 
Lorgeril  will  leave  there  to-morrow,  and  will  reach  here 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.' 

"'It  is  not  likely,'  said  M.  de  Lisle  to  the  clairvoyant, 
'  that  if  Lorgeril  is  to  reach  here  to-morrow  it  should  be 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  because  he  has  work  in 
the  port,  and  in  order  to  go  to  his  work  he  would  have 
to  arrive  here  in  the  morning.' 

" '  No,  sir,  no ;  I  tell  you  that  he  will  get  here  at  four 
o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon.' 

"  The  following  day,  as  the  young  woman  had  predicted, 
as  four  o'clock  struck  Lorgeril  returned.  M.  de  Lisle,  who 
was  waiting  for  him,  said  to  him  as  he  entered  the  garden : 

" '  Well,  my  poor  Lorgeril,  so  your  love  affair  has 
turned  out  badly.  That  is  a  pity ;  you  were,  however, 
well  looked  after — ragout  of  lamb,  orange  salad  .  .  .' 

"  Lorgeril  opened  his  eyes  wide  in  astonishment.  '  Sir, 
sir — how,  how  .  .  .' 

"  Finally,  M.  de  Lisle  raised  his  wonderment  to  the 
highest  pitch  by  saying   to   him,  "  Come,  Lorgeril,   put 


314  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

your  hand  in  your  pocket  and  give  me  those  three  oranges 
you  have  bought  for  the  children.' 

"  Lorgeril  then  threw  the  three  oranges  on  the  sandy 
path  of  the  garden,  fled  precipitately  to  his  own  room, 
quite  frightened,  saying,  '  Ah,  Monsieur  de  Lisle,  you  have 
dealings  with  the  devil.' " 

We  now  come  to  a  case  of  lucidity,  immediately  verified 
by  means  of  the  telephone.  This  method  of  verification, 
when  it  is  possible,  is  absolutely  irrefutable ;  it  leaves  no 
room,  in  fact,  for  any  mistake  of  memory;  nor  can  the 
objection  be  raised  that  the  subject  could  have  obtained 
any  knowledge  of  the  facts  described  between  the  time  of 
their  occurrence  and  that  of  the  experiment,  seeing  that 
the  subject  can  be  made  to  describe  the  facts  at  the  time 
they  occur  and  can  be  kept  in  sight  while  they  are  being 
verified. 

This  experiment  is  related  in  the  Aniiales  des  Sciences 
Psychiques. 

Case  of  Lucidity 
Controlled  by  Telephone 

In  1892,  at  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  I  was  at  the 
house  of  a  manufacturer  whom  I  will  call  M.  A.,  and  who 
then  lived  on  the  Quai  de  la  Tournelle  at  Paris.  M.  A. 
did  not  believe  in  the  lucidity  of  somnambulists,  Avhom  he 
generally  described  as  "  humbugs,"  without  having,  how- 
ever, ever  taken  the  pains  to  study  them,  even  superficially. 
That  day,  in  consequence  of  a  conversation  at  which  I  had 
not  been  present,  two  young  men,  known  to  M.  A.,  brought 
into  his  oftice  a  woman  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  the  mistress  of  one  of  their  friends,  a  pharmaceutical 
student,  from  whom  they  had  concealed  this  freak. 

This  woman,  whose  name  I  do  not  remember  having 
heard,  had  a  rather  insignificant  face,  an  appearance  of 
regular  rather  than  robust  health,  with  a  rather  tired 
look,  and  common,  unintelligent  features.  She  had  no 
society  habits,  and  seemed  at  once  confused  and  vain  of 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      315 

the  attention  which  was  paid  her — in  short,  an  ignorant 
peasant  and,  apparently,  anything  but  cunning.  She  did 
not  seem  hysterical,  and  I  did  not  hear  she  was  subject 
to  any  nervous  trouble. 

The  two  young  men  who  had  brought  her  explained 
that  they  wanted  her  to  give  a  proof  of  lucidity ;  but  no 
experiment  had  been  prepared,  and,  moreover,  M.  A.  was 
ignorant  that  she  was  coming  that  day,  because  the  som- 
nambulist had  been  obliged  to  wait  until  her  lover  was 
absent  before  leaving  her  room. 

After  taking  off  her  cloak,  she  sat  down  and  asked  for 
a  glass  of  water,  which  she  drank  in  one  draught ;  then 
gazing  at  the  gas  lamp  which  was  burning  in  front  of  her, 
on  the  table,  she  went  to  sleep  in  a  few  moments.  Then 
she  asked— and  her  speech  was  somewhat  indistinct  at 
first — that  we  would  put  in  her  hands  an  object  belonging 
to  the  person  it  was  desired  to  folloAv.  M.  A.  gave  her 
a  letter  Avritten  by  one  M.  L. ;  the  somnambulist  felt  it 
carefully,  smelt  it  several  times  and  said,  "  Yes,  this  is 
from  a  gentleman  who  often  comes  here ;  he  has  an  office 
in  this  neighbourhood,  but  he  does  not  live  there.  I  do 
not  know  where  he  lives.  He  is  very  tall,  he  wxars  an 
official  decoration,  he  is  careful  of  his  appearance,  and 
when  no  one  is  looking  at  him  he  arranges  his  beard  with 
a  small  comb  which  he  always  carries  in  his  pocket.  And 
then  he  dyes  his  hair  and  beard.  He  looks  about  forty 
years  of  age,  but  he  is  fifty  at  least." 

The  first  part  of  this  vision  tallied  exactly  with  what 
we  all  knew  of  M.  L.,  but  the  revelation  of  his  finical  ways 
seemed  so  slightly  in  harmony  with  the  sober  character 
of  the  man  that  we  could  not  help  making  energetic 
gestures  of  dissent,  to  which  M.  A,,  who  knew  M.  L.  much 
better  than  ourselves,  replied  by  making  us  a  sign  that  the 
somnambulist  was  right.  He  then  asked  what  M.  L.  had 
done  during  the  day ;  she  followed  him  in  his  rounds 
among  contractors,  public  offices,  &c.,  and  it  Avas  possible, 
on  the  following  day,  to  corroborate  a  part  of  these  assertions, 
which  were  admitted  to  be  correct,  in  spite  of  the  silence 
of  M.  L.,  who  was  greatly  offended  with  this  "  foolish  joking." 


316  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

After  a  few  minutes'  rest,  the  somnambulist  being  still 
asleep,  M.  A.  gave  her  a  letter  from  one  of  his  corre- 
spondents, M.  Mousson,  of  whom  the  somnambulist  gave 
an  exact  description. 

"  Where  does  this  gentleman  live  ?  "  M.  A.  asked. 

"  That  is  rather  difficult.  I  see  clearly  that  it  is  in 
Paris,  in  a  place  where  there  are  many  people  and  many 
carriages,  but  you  ought  to  help  me  a  little." 

"  Look  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Bourse." 

"  Ah !  I  am  there.  It  is  Place  de  la  Bourse,  at  such 
a  number,  on  such  a  floor." 

This  was  correct. 

"  What  is  this  gentleman  doing  at  this  moment  ?  " 

"  He  is  writing  a  letter.  I  think  it  is  in  English,  because 
it  is  going  to  London." 

"  What  does  he  say  in  this  letter.     Read  it." 

"He  is  explaining  why  there  has  been  a  delay  with 
a  commission  that  has  been  given  him,  but  that  it  is  not 
his  fault,  and  he  will  send  the  desired  reply  the  day  after 
to-morrow." 

Thereupon  M.  A.  went  out  of  his  office  into  an  adjoming 
room,  where  there  was  a  telephone,  and  asked  to  be  put 
into  communication  with  M.  Mousson ;  it  was  impossible 
to  hear  in  one  room  what  was  said  in  the  other. 

During  this  time  the  somnambulist  continued  :  "  Now 
he  is  reading  over  his  letter ;  he  gets  up  and  takes  a  book 
which  he  moistens  (a  letter  copying  book)  while  speaking 
to  a  little  boy  who  has  come  into  the  room.  .  .  .  Ah !  he 
has  stopped !  .  .  .  Hallo !  he  is  talking  into  a  little  box 
which  is  on  the  table  (the  telephone  transmitter).  Oh ! 
but  what  is  the  matter  ?  he  looks  quite  astonished,  poor 
man.  It  seems  as  though  something  unfortunate  has 
happened  to  him." 

(At  this  moment  M.  A.  was  telephoning  to  M.  Mousson  : 
"  You  have  just  written  a  letter  in  English  to  London  ask- 
ing them  to  excuse  you  for  an  involuntary  delay.  Is 
that  true  ?  "  "  Yes,  but  how  do  you  know  ?  "  "  It  is  a 
somnambulistic  experiment ;  I  will  explain  it  to  you. 
Now  have  the  kindness  to  do  exactly  what  I  tell  you.") 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOiMNAMBULISM      3l7 

"  Ah  ! "  resumed  the  clairvoyant,  "  now  he  looks  a  little 
more  relieved.  He  listens  in  a  little  round  thing  which 
he  holds  to  his  ear  (the  receiver).  .  .  .  But  what  is  he 
doing  ?  What  a  funny  machine.  Now  he  has  finished 
his  conversation ;  he  hangs  the  little  round  thing  on  the 
box.     But  he  still  seems  much  perplexed." 

(At  this  moment  M.  A.  came  back  into  his  office.) 

"  He  has  taken  his  hat,  he  is  going  out :  he  comes  back 
and  takes  some  papers  from  the  table :  he  goes  out  and 
locks  the  door :  he  is  going  down  the  staircase :  he  has 
stopped  on  the  landing :  he  seems  absorbed  in  thought : 
he  continues  to  descend :  he  is  outside :  he  has  stopped 
again  and  is  looking  at  his  papers.  He  seems  as  if  he  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  .  .  .  He  turns  to  the  left :  no,  he 
comes  back  to  the  right :  he  goes  down  the  street  on  the 
right  (the  Rue  Vivienne) :  he  goes  almost  to  the  edge  of 
the  pavement  (at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Feydeau) :  he 
stops  again :  he  looks  all  round  him  :  he  has  come  back : 
he  goes  up  the  stairs  and  back  into  his  rooms." 

All  that  the  somnambulist  had  said  was  the  exact 
description  of  the  actions  accomplished  by  M.  Mousson, 
according  to  the  somewhat  complicated  instructions  as 
M.  A.  had  transmitted  to  him  by  telephone. 

In  this  moment  the  seance  was  almost  void,  or,  at 
least,  without  interest,  the  somnambulist  being  fatigued 
and  the  spectators  overwhelming  her  with  questions  with- 
out method  or  patience.  Shortly,  the  young  woman 
evinced  a  desire  to  awaken ;  one  of  the  number  breathed 
on  her  eyes ;  she  drank  two  more  glasses  of  water  and 
left.  Since  then  I  have  never  heard  of  her,  and  I  did 
not  know  who  she  was. 

Added  to  this  is  an  attestation  by  M.  Cote,  engineer, 
who  was  present  at  the  experiment  at  M.  A.'s  house.  I 
have  lost  sight  of  the  latter,  and  I  do  not  think  that  his 
evidence  could  be  of  sjreat  use,  because  of  his  unscientific 
and  even  less  methodical  mind.  M.  L.  would  never  con- 
fess that  the  somnambulist  was  right  in  saying  that  he 
dyed  his  hair ;  moreover,  he  is  a  staunch  Catholic,  who 
could  only  see  the  action  of  the  devil  in  these  phenomena. 


318  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  tAvo  young  men  who  accompanied  the  somnambulist 
are  pleasant,  gay  fellows,  who  must  long  ago  have  lost  all 
recollection  of  this  seance,  and  I  should  not  know,  more- 
over, where  to  find  them.  With  regard  to  M.  Mousson, 
who  has  been  good  enough  to  authorise  me  to  publish  his 
name,  I  have  submitted  the  present  account  to  him,  as 
well  as  to  M.  Cote.  He  admitted  it  to  be  correct,  as  did 
also  a  lady  who  was  in  his  office  at  the  time  of  the  ex- 
periment ;  he  even  promised  me  to  write  out  a  separate 
account,  but  in  spite  of  several  letters  and  fruitless  visits, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  reply  from  him ; 
Avhether  it  be  that  his  numerous  engagements  have  pre- 
vented him  from  carrying  out  his  promise,  or  whether 
M.  L.,  to  whom  he  must  have  spoken  of  it,  has  dissuaded 
him,  which  is  perhaps  more  probable. 


Phenomena    of    Lucidity    observed    by    M.    Leopold 
Dauvil  in  the  Hypnotic  Experiments  Published 

BY   HIM.^ 

At  an  evening  party  given  by  the  English  Consul,  one 
Saturday  in  October  1884,  I  found  all  the  distinguished 
society  of  Saint-Denis  assembled,  and  if  this  book  is  read 
by  some  West  Indians  who  were  present  at  this  gathering, 
they  will  see  that  I  have  reported  the  facts  in  all  their 
true  simplicity. 

Among  the  numerous  subjects  (forty-two),  which  I  had 
hypnotised,  I  chose  four  of  the  best,  those  from  whom 
Colonel  do  Roclias,  to  whom  I  had  related  the  facts,  could 
have  asked  all  that  hypnosis  has  produced  in  the  way  of 
degrees,  from  calm,  inert,  unintelligent  sleep,  up  to  the 
externalisation  of  sensibility  in  all  its  forms,  and  even  to 
the  separation  of  body  and  spirit,  as  will  be  proved  by 
the  notes  which  I  have  copied  exactly. 

These  four  subjects  were  M.M.  Cosse  et  Drau,  naval 
writers ;  Mile.  Loubelle,  now  the  wife  of  a  general ;  and 
M.  Radigue,  naval  officer,  of  great  intelligence  and  know- 

1  Echo  du  MervciUeux,  1908. 


LUCIDrrV    IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      319 

ledge.  We  were  at  the  house  of  Consul  and  Lady  St. 
John,  in  the  midst  of  over  a  hundred  spectators,  among 
whom  were  M.  Beaucastel,  head  physician,  and  all  his 
medical  staff. 

I  sent  Cosse  to  sleep,  and  produced  on  him  the  whole 
range  of  Charcot's  experiments.  Dr.  Beaucastel  asked  me 
to  produce  catalepsy,  which  was  done  without  difficulty. 
Then  I  obtained  a  quiet  awakening,  which  I  had  never 
done  before.  "My  friend,"  I  said  to  the  subject,  "I  w^ant 
you  to  return  to  consciousness."  I  then  made  him  stand 
up,  by  means  of  a  few  passes  extending  from  the  head  to 
the  feet.  "  Now,  tell  us  yourself  what  I  ought  to  do  to 
awaken  you  calmly  and  take  away  all  fatigue  from  your 
body." 

Cosse  took  my  left  hand,  passed  it  over  his  head,  from 
the  occiput  to  the  base  of  the  cerebellum,  then  over  all 
the  circumvolutions,  after  which,  turning  half-way  round, 
he  added,  as  he  had  never  done  before,  knowing  probably 
nothing  of  medicine  or  anatomy  :  "  Ask  one  of  the  doctors 
to  put  his  finger  between  the  fourth  and  fifth  vertebrae, 
and  at  that  place  you  will  project  a  jet  of  fluid." 

I  did  this  and  Cosse  opened  his  eyes  smiling,  and 
showing  by  the  movements  of  his  back,  neck,  and  head 
that  he  had  an  evident  feeling  of  comfort. 

The  Consul's  wife  asked,  "  Can  you  request  this 
gentleman  to  go  to  a  distance,  to  London  or  Berlin  or 
Paris,  and  describe  something  that  he  sees  there  ? " 

"  We  will  try,  Madame." 

In  order  to  put  these  four  subjects  to  sleep  I  simply 
looked  at  them  and  put  a  finger  on  their  forehead ;  they 
were  hypnotised,  their  eyes  remained  opened  but  fixed 
and  haggard,  the  body  limp,  the  spirit  free.  Cosse  being 
asleep  and  seated  in  an  arm-chair,  a  lady  asked  him  if  he 
knew  Bordeaux. 

"No." 

"  Can  you  go  there  ? " 

"  Yes." 

The  doctor  continued  questions,  for  I  left  the  subject 
completely  independent. 


320  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  My  friend,"  he  said  to  Mm,  "  we  are  getting  out  at 
Bordeaux  station.     Can  you  see  it  ? " 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  fine  new  station." 

"  Right.  It  is  the  Gare  Saint-Jean ;  you  can  see  it 
clearly  ? " 

"  Quite." 

"  We  have  come  to  the  platform," 

"  I  am  there  ;  I  see  a  splendid  bridge." 

"  We  are  on  the  Cours  de  I'lntendance." 

"  I  am  there." 

I  then  asked  to  take  my  subject  again. 

"  You  say  you  see  what  the  doctor  asked  you  to  see  ? " 

"  Quite  well." 

"  Well,  then,  tell  us  what  you  see  now." 

His  large  eyes  wide  open,  his  body  remaining  motion- 
less, Cosse  seemed  to  look  to  right  and  left,  as  into  space. 

"  I  see,"  he  said,  "  some  beautiful  houses,  to  the  left  a 
large  cafe,  some  marble  tables,  plenty  of  people  sitting 
down,  customers,  doubtless,  and  musicians.  Oh !  what 
beautiful  lamps,  what  brilliant  light,  like  moons  "  (doubt- 
less the  Jablochkoflf  lamps). 

"  And  to  the  right,  behind  you,  what  do  you  see  ? " 

"  A  large  monumental  building  all  lighted  up." 

"  Yes,  it  is  the  Grand  Theatre." 

And  the  subject  gave  an  exact  description  of  it,  with  its 
portico  raised  on  six  or  eight  steps,  and  its  lines  of  gas-jets. 

"  All  that  does  not  surprise  me,"  said  a  young  doctor ; 
"  the  subject  is  reading  in  the  brain  of  the  magnetiser." 

"  As  he  read  in  mine  then,"  said  the  head  doctor,  "  and 
you  venture  to  say  it  does  not  surprise  3'-ou  ?  to  me  it  is 
marvellous,  sir." 

"  But,"  said  a  pharmacist,  M.  Cornuel,  "  we  can  secure 
a  proof  of  the  subject's  independence  of  mind.  Did  he 
not  say  that  the  Bordeaux  theatre  is  lighted  up  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Cosse,  still  asleep ;  "  yes,  at  this  moment 
many  people  are  going  up  the  steps." 

"Well,"  continued   the  young  pharmacist,  "tell  us 
what  piece  is  being  played  and  we  shall  be  convinced." 

Then   a   strange   thing   happened ;    the   subject    rose 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      321 

abruptly,  came  from  the  arm-chair,  crossed  the  drawing- 
room,  made  as  though  he  was  cUmbing  up  some  steps, 
raising  one  leg  after  the  other,  and  stooping  down  towards 
a  picture. 

"  What  are  you  looking  at  ? "  I  asked  him. 

"  A  placard." 

"  What  placard  ?  " 

"  The  one  which  is  in  this  frame,  under  this  wire- work." 

"  Then  tell  us  w^hat  you  see." 

"  A  yellow  placard.     Wait." 

And  3000  leagues  from  the  Bordeaux  theatre  this 
young  man  read  in  the  midst  of  perfect  silence:  "  Grand 
Theatre,  Bordeaux,  this  evening,  Saturday,  October  20th 
(or  24th),  1884,  first  performance  of  'Aida,'  music  by 
Verdi." 

Certainly,  that  was  not  impressed  on  the  brain  of  any 
of  those  present.  But  the  marvel  was  confirmed  when, 
fifteen  days  afterwards,  on  the  arrival  of  a  mail-boat 
from  France,  one  of  the  doctors,  who  was  from  Bordeaux, 
opened  the  Journal  de  la  Gironde,  which  he  had  received, 
and  we  noticed  that,  on  the  date  of  the  English  Consul's 
party,  Verdi's  "Aida"  was  performed  at  the  Bordeaux 
theatre. 

I  leave  readers  to  make  their  own  reflections  on  this 
subject.  For  my  part  I  am  content  to  affirm  the  fact, 
which  appears  marvellous  to  me  every  time  I  recall  it. 

My  second  subject  was  Mile.  Louise  Loubelle,  a  tall 
and  beautiful  young  girl,  fair,  with  sea-green  eyes,  thought- 
ful brow,  rather  taciturn,  of  nervous  temperament,  im- 
pressionable, perhaps  slightly  inclined  to  hysteria,  but 
showing  no  sign  of  it  during  the  four  months  that  I 
had  hypnotised  her.  She  magnetised  herself  by  the  Braid 
system  with  her  ring,  after  a  lady's  diamond  ear-ring  had 
one  evening  put  her  in  a  hypnotic  condition. 

I  shall  mention  in  connection  wnth  her  an  instance 
of  great  magnetic  flight  which  occurred  in  the  house  of 
Colonel  Morsali,  the  chief  of  the  gendarmerie,  at  one  of 
his  charming  private  gatherings. 

Mile.  Louise,  being  in  a  sleeping  condition,  with  her 

X 


322  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

eyes  very  wide  open  and  staring,  Mme.  Ledin,  wife  of  a 
general  commissioner,  asked  if  the  subject  could  go  to 
her  home  at  Albi  and  bring  news  of  her  father. 

Mile.  Loubelle,  who  had  never  left  the  shores  of  her 
distant  island,  replied,  "  With  pleasure,"  and  whether  by 
her  own  thoughts  or  by  the  brain  of  the  questioner,  she 
saw  herself  at  Albi  on  a  square  which  she  described  quite 
accurately,  although  it  was  dusk.  She  arrived  at  the 
house  indicated,  seeming  to  stop  and  look  at  its  simple 
architecture,  which  she  described,  then  made  as  though 
she  was  going  up  two  steps,  and  pulled  the  bell  handle 
horizontally.  This  gesture  surprised  Mme.  Ledin,  who 
had  never  expected  this  remarkable  particular.  Why 
had  not  the  sleeper's  hand  pressed  the  button,  or  pulled 
a  string,  or  simply  knocked  ?  The  door  was  undoubtedly 
opened  to  the  invisible  visitor,  who  said : 

"There  is  a  servant  about  fifty  years  of  age,  with  a 
yellow  silk  handkerchief  on  her  head,  her  hair  is  grey.  I 
go  in ;  there  is  a  door  to  the  left,  a  door  to  the  right,  a 
short  corridor  with  a  staircase  at  the  end.  The  door  to 
the  right  is  half-way  opened  ;  I  see  a  gentleman  with  Avhite 
hair,  sitting  down,  and  bent  over  a  small  white  earthen- 
ware stove.  Your  sister,  madame — it  can  only  be  your 
sister,  because  she  is  so  much  like  you— is  beside  your 
father.     She  is  fair  and  pretty  like  yourself." 

"  Enough  !  enough  ! "  cried  Mme.  Ledin,  with  tears  in 
her  eyes.  "  Thank  you  !  I  believe.  It  is  my  father,  it  is 
my  sister,  with  our  old  Bridget.  I  am  very  happy,  but  I 
do  not  wish  to  know  any  more." 

The  second  part  of  this  seance  is  not  less  interesting 
than  the  first.  An  officer,  a  native  of  Albi,  like  Mme. 
Ledin,  and  hitherto  incredulous  through  prejudice,  also 
wished  to  interrogate  Mile.  Loubelle,  whom  I  awakened  in 
the  same  manner  as  Cossd  had  instructed  me  for  himself, 
and  which  always  ensured  a  calm  return  to  the  waking 
state  without  fatigue.  I  made  light  passes  on  the  fore- 
head, the  base  of  the  skull,  the  vertebrae  of  the  neck  and 
the  spine,  and  the  subject  awoke  smiling,  as  though 
coming  out  of  a  pleasant  dream. 


LUCIDITY  IN    DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      323 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  rest  I  asked  her  to  go  to 
sleep  again.  She  gazed  at  a  beautiful  topaz  stone  which 
she  wore  on  her  left  hand,  went  off  to  sleep  again,  and 
asked  Commandant  Heral : 

"  What  do  you  desire  ? " 

"  That  you  should  go  with  me  round  this  square  (still 
at  Albi)  and  tell  mo  what  you  particularly  notice." 

"  I  own  I  do  not  see  very  clearly ;  however,  I  seem  to 
distinguish  there  at  the  end  of  the  square  on  the  right, 
raised  up  a  little  on  a  high  pedestal,  something  like  the 
outline  of  a  statue  thrown  against  a  dark  sky,  but  I  do  not 
see  well.  Oh  !  that  is  funny ;  there  is  a  man  carrying  some 
fire  at  the  end  of  a  long  pole.  He  is  coming  to  light  the 
lamps." 

This  fact  calls  for  explanation,  because  it  is  character- 
istic. It  was  then  at  the  island  of  Reunion,  10.20  p.m., 
but  the  longitude  east  of  Albi  being  52^  50'  gives  a  differ- 
ence of  3  hours  53  minutes ;  that  is  to  say,  that  when  it  was 
10.20  at  St.  Denis,  it  would  only  be  about  6.27  at  Albi, 
when  it  would  be  time,  in  September,  to  think  of  lighting 
the  street  lamps. 

Who  now,  among  the  numerous  witnesses  in  this 
tropical  drawing-room,  would  have  thought  of  this  differ- 
ence of  longitude,  of  the  sun's  delay  which  the  clair- 
voyant so  clearly  indicated  ?  Then  the  gas  lighted  up 
the  square  at  Albi,  and  doubtless  the  statue  which  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  our  new  Isis  became  more 
clearly  visible.     She  went  on: 

"  This  figure  seems  to  me  to  be  that  of  an  ofScer,"  she 
said.  "  Has  he  not  his  left  hand  on  his  sword  ?  His  hair 
is  as  though  tied  up.  His  costume  is  of  the  time  of 
Louis  XV.  or  Louis  XVI.  His  right  hand  holds  an  open 
map.  Is  he  an  engineer,  a  sailor  ?  But  a  rather  high 
railing  hides  the  lower  part  of  the  body,  and  then,  between 
the  statue  and  the  railing,  and  concealing  the  pedestal  from 
me,  I  see  some  curious  objects  like  chains,  small  cannon." 

"  Bravo  !  bravo  ! "  cried  the  Albigensian  commandant ; 
"  I  had  quite  forgotten  those  details ;  it  is  perfectly 
correct." 


324  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  And  you  will  remember,  my  dear  commandant,"  I 
said  to  him,  "  that  never  having  been  myself  to  Albi, 
I  cannot  suggest  the  replies  to  the  subject." 

"  Well,"  added  the  commandant,  "  if  Mademoiselle  can 
read  the  name  that  is  on  the  pedestal  I  will  own  myself 
conquered  and  convinced." 

"  Will  you  then  read  this  name,"  I  said  to  the  clair- 
voyante,  "  if  you  can." 

"  It  is  very  high  up,"  she  said,  opening  her  eyes 
exceedingly  wide.  "  It  is  long  to  read ;  there  are  many 
words  written." 

"  The  name,  the  name  only,"  I  said,  impressing  her 
mind. 

"  Wait !  It  is,  it  is — "  and  spelling  she  said,  "  L-a — La — 
R-o-u-s-e — La  Rouse." 

I  went  close  to  her,  a  thought  having  sprung  up  in  my 
brain. 

"  I  think,"  I  said  to  her,  "that  some  object,  a  chain,  or 
a  bar  of  the  railing,  prevented  you  from  reading  the 
whole  name,"  and  taking  the  young  woman's  head  in  my 
hand  I  displaced  it  slightly.  "  La  Perouse !"  she  cried  out, 
in  the  midst  of  a  thunder  of  applause  from  the  astonished 
spectators. 

I  must  add  that  these  recollections,  thanks  to  my  old 
notes,  were  in  no  way  effaced  from  my  memory,  when  in 
1896,  before  going  with  some  cyclists  to  make  a  tour  from 
Pau  to  Tarbes  and  Audi,  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  go  to 
Albi,  and  putting  my  wish  into  execution,  I  went  over 
sixty  miles  out  of  my  way  to  see  for  myself  what  I  had 
glimpsed  twelve  years  previously  through  the  eyes  of 
my  subject,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  recognising  by  a 
side  of  the  square  at  Albi  the  little  house  of  Mme. 
Ledin's  father,  and,  right  at  the  end,  the  statue  of 
the  celebrated  navigator  La  Perouse,  as  it  had  been 
described  3000  leagues  away  from  France,  by  a  young 
sleeping  Creole. 

We  will  relate  now  a  series  of  experiments  which 
arc  due  to  Dr.  Fcrroul,  of  Narbonne.  The  authority  of 
Dr.  Ferroul,  the  shrewdness  and  scientific  exactitude  which 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      325 

he  brings  to  bear  on  all  his  experiments,  render  them  of 
especial  value.  Further,  he  has  taken  pains  to  have  them 
verified  and  attested  by  a  large  number  of  witnesses,  thus 
furnishing  undeniable  proof  of  authenticity. 


Experiments  of  Dr.  Ferroul  on  Lucidity  ^ 

Anna  B.  was  born  at  Narbonne,  and  has  never  left 
this  locality  ;  she  may  now  be  about  twenty-six  years  of 
age.  She  is  an  ironer,  and  suffers  much  from  debility ; 
her  face  is  pleasant,  but  she  is  exceedingly  pale  and  thin. 
Three  years  ago  Dr.  Ferroul  was  extremely  sceptical  with 
regard  to  all  the  phenomena  recorded  in  the  Annates  des 
Sciences  Psychiques.  He  was  one  day  called  to  attend 
Anna  B.,  who  had  had  a  nervous  attack  in  the  street. 
Solely  as  the  result  of  some  words  uttered  in  an  autho- 
ritative tone,  Anna  immediately  got  up  and  returned  to 
her  normal  condition.  Dr.  Ferroul  then  thought  of  trying 
some  hypnotic  experiments  with  her ;  he  therefore  had 
her  come  to  his  house,  and  was  not  slow  in  perceiving 
that  she  had  some  strange  psychic  faculties. 

When  placed  in  the  magnetic  sleep,  she  spontaneously 
made  known  to  him  certain  of  his  own  acts  which  she 
could  not  have  previously  been  aware  of,  and  -without  being 
sfuided  to  these  declarations.  Dr.  Ferroul  was  therefore 
led  to  make  various  progressive  experiments,  and  I  will 
relate  some  cases  I  have  from  Dr.  Ferroul  himself,  and 
which  made  a  great  noise  in  the  town,  and  could  be  authen- 
ticated by  various  witnesses. 

We  regret  that  the  many  engagements  of  Dr.  Ferroul 
did  not  leave  him  time  to  make  a  further  series  of 
methodical  experiments,  in  presence  of  a  circle  which 
would  have  drawn  up  an  official  report  of  verification. 
Dr.  Ferroul,  who  is  of  a  very  active  temperament  and  of 
a  positive  character,  has  always  declared  that  he  wished 
to  proceed  capriciously,  at  random,  according  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  and  did  not  wish  to  read  or 

^  From  the  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 


326  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

learn  anything  about  previous  investigation  on  these 
subjects. 

Although  this  system  may  appear  regrettable  from 
the  point  of  view  of  scientific  analysis,  and  to  prove  the 
facts  for  distant  readers,  we  must  recognise  in  view  of 
the  results  of  investigations  made  by  a  number  of  experi- 
menters, that  psychical  phenomena  do  not  lend  themselves 
well  to  the  experimental  method  of  physical  phenomena, 
which  invariably  brings  about  a  constraint,  an  obstacle, 
which  causes  the  phenomenon  to  be  abortive,  or  imperfectly 
realised. 

Moreover,  the  temperament  of  the  person  who  sets 
the  subject  to  work  counts  for  much  in  obtaining  the 
phenomena.  Thus  Dr.  Ferroul,  alone,  obtained  with  Anna 
the  results  which  we  will  describe ;  other  physicians  who 
have  sent  Anna  to  sleep  have  only  obtained  with  her  the 
ordinary  hypnotic  phenomena,  and  have  disturbed  for 
some  time  the  faculties  of  lucidity.  There  is  therefore 
between  Dr.  Ferroul  and  Anna  some  psychical  relation  par- 
ticularly favourable  to  the  development  of  these  strange 
faculties :  the  one  as  a  powerful  positive  motive  power,  the 
other  as  negative  agent. 

Dr.  Ferroul  was  not  long  in  perceiving  that  Anna 
could  see  distant  scenes,  taking  place  at  the  very  moment 
when  she  was  in  the  somnambulistic  condition.  Then  he 
also  soon  found  that  she  could  perceive  facts  which  hap- 
pened several  days  before.  In  that  condition  Anna  was 
completely  independent  of  time  and  space. 

In  the  induced  sleep  she  always  spoke  in  a  low  tone ; 
she  resisted  sometimes,  complaining,  and,  if  Dr.  Ferroul 
insisted,  she  had  nervous  attacks  which  prevented  him 
from  going  on  with  the  experiment.  Besides,  she  generally 
had  the  demeanour  and  language  of  a  child. 

1.  Case  of  Le  Boulon 

This  case  occurred  in  June  1894  when  Dr.  Ferroul  was 
expecting  two  persons  who  were  to  come  by  train  from 
Boulon,  a  place  about  fifty-four  miles  from  Narbonne. 


LUCIDITY    IN    DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      327 

These  persons  did  not  come,  and  not  receiving  any 
news  explaining  the  cause  of  the  delay,  Dr.  Ferroul  went 
to  Anna,  put  her  in  the  somnambulistic  state  and  ordered 
her  to  proceed  to  Le  Boulon.  He  gave  her  the  necessary 
directions,  as  he  knew  the  place,  but  Anna  had  never 
been  there. 

"  I  am  there,"  she  said,  describing  it,  "  but  I  see  no  one." 

"  Go  into  the  house." 

"  I  am  there.  Ah  !  good  gracious !  What  has  hap- 
pened !  Madame  is  on  the  bed,  hurt  in  the  shoulder  and 
the  back,  but  she  is  not  bleeding.  There,  the  carriage  was 
upset,  the  coachman  fell  on  one  side,  but  he  is  not  hurt." 

Anna  then  said  that  the  doctor  was  dressing  the  hurts, 
and  was  asking  for  a  longer  bandage  than  the  one  he  held 
in  his  hand,  and  other  details.  (I  have  read  all  those 
details  in  Dr.  Ferroul's  notebook.)  Immediately  after- 
wards Dr.  Ferroul  sent  a  telegram  to  Le  Boulon :  "  Is  it 
true  that  you  have  had  a  carriage  accident  ? " 

The  following  morning  he  received  a  letter  from  his 
friend  (which  I  have  read).  This  friend  began  by  express- 
ing astonishment  that  Dr.  Ferroul  should  know  of  the 
accident ;  the  particulars  given  in  the  letter  agreed  with 
those  given  by  the  somnambulist. 

2.  Case  of  a  Person  who  had  Disappeared 

In  June  1894  the  Bdjpeche  de  Toulouse  and  the 
Narbonne  newspapers  gave  particulars  of  a  young  ghl 
who  had  disappeared,  whom  we  will  designate  by  the 
letter  D. 

She  was  servant  to  M.  Fabre's  father-in-law. 

She  was  last  seen  by  M.  Fabre,  a  chemist  at  Narbonne 
and  deputy-mayor,  on  Sunday,  June  24th,  at  half-past 
nine  in  the  evening.  She  left  his  house  to  return  to  her 
master's. 

The  last  named  returned  home  at  ten  o'clock,  found 
the  door  open,  and  the  servant's  apron  on  the  drawing- 
room  table,  but  the  servant  had  disappeared. 

They  searched  for  her  until  late,  but  in  vain ;  on  the 


328  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

following  day,  Monday,  they  made  further  inquiries  which 
proved  useless,  and  being  greatly  disturbed  they  com- 
municated with  the  newspapers,  which  gave  a  description 
of  her  in  their  issues  of  Tuesday  morning. 

On  Tuesday  evening  M.  Fabre  asked  Dr.  Ferroul  to 
try  Anna's  lucidity  on  the  case. 

Dr.  Ferroul  said  that  probably  it  would  not  be  suc- 
cessful because  there  was  no  trace ;  neither  he  nor  Anna 
knew  the  servant,  but  on  the  chance  of  success  he  tried 
the  experiment. 

Anna  having  been  sent  to  sleep,  Dr.  Ferroul  said 
to  her: 

"  Go  back  to  half-past  nine  on  Sunday  evening  at 
M.  Fabre's  house  in  the  Rue  de  la  Republique ;  you  will 
find  there  a  young  servant  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  of 
such  and  such  a  description. 

"  I  see  her,"  said  Anna. 

"  Well,  follow  her  and  tell  me  what  became  of  her." 

The  somnambulist  declared  that  D.  returned  to  the 
house  which  she  described ;  that  she  went  into  her  room 
and  made  her  toilet.  She  described  the  room,  and 
stated  that  in  the  corner  there  was  a  trunk  with  some 
dirty  linen  inside  which  smelt. 

She  spoke  of  an  individual  who  came  and  had  some 
conversation  with  D.,  persuaded  her  to  go  downstairs,  and 
led  her  into  a  coach-house  in  front  of  the  house ;  that, 
meanwhile,  M.  and  Mme.  Potet  arrived,  and  surprised  at 
seeing  the  house  open,  began  to  make  a  search.  The  girl 
D.  and  her  companion  heard  all  that  took  place,  and  did 
not  dare  to  go  out. 

The  man,  seeing  that  she  could  not  go  back,  told  her 
to  go  Avith  him,  and  that  he  would  find  her  another  place. 

At  Dr.  Forroul's  request  she  described  the  individual, 
but  could  not  give  his  name,  which  D.  had  not  pro- 
nounced. 

D.  raised  some  objections  because  of  the  difficulty  she 
would  have  in  bringing  away  her  things.  The  man  said 
ho  would  see  to  that. 

Anna  then  said  : 


LUCIDITY    IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      329 

"  Thoy  have  gone ;  they  are  on  the  Quai  de  la  Charite. 
D.  said  to  the  man  : 

"You  see  high  up  there  that  small  lighted  window, 
that  is  the  room  belongino-  to  Marie,  Fabre's  servant." 

"  Have  you  said  anything  to  Marie  ? " 

"No." 

"But,"  said  Anna,  "they  went  down  some  very  funny 
streets.  I  have  never  seen  those  streets.  Ah  !  there  they 
are  going  into  a  house — a  woman  receives  them.  He  tells 
her  she  is  his  mother,  but  she  is  not  his  mother — she  is 
a  go-between." 

Other  details  followed,  then  Anna  said : 

"  Ah !  they  are  getting  up,  they  go  to  the  station.  She 
takes  a  ticket  for  Beziers;  she  goes  along  first,  second, 
third  platform  ;  she  gets  in  the  train,  she  arrives  at  Beziers. 
Ah  !  I  cannot  see  any  more  of  her,  there  are  so  many 
people.     I  have  lost  her." 

Not  being  able  to  gather  anything  more,  Dr.  Ferroul 
transmitted  these  notes  to  M.  Fabre,  who  went  to  find  his 
father-in-law.  They  went  into  D.'s  room  and  found,  in 
fact,  that  there  was  some  dirty  linen  in  a  trunk ;  but  they 
were  unable  to  elucidate  anything,  and  Tuesday  passed 
without  news  of  D. 

The  following  evening,  Wednesday,  M.  Fabre's  servant 
had  gone  to  post  a  letter  and  saw  D.  in  the  company  of  a 
woman.  D.  tried  to  hide  herself  as  best  she  could.  When 
questioned  she  could  not  escape  from  Marie's  reproaches. 
She  then  replied  that  she  had  just  come  from  Beziers, 
where  she  had  been  to  look  for  a  situation.  Marie  quickly 
went  to  inform  M.  Fabre,  who  sent  a  police  officer  to  the 
house  of  the  woman  with  whom  Marie  had  seen  D.,  but 
D,  had  gone  away  again.  Two  days  afterwards  the  agent 
discovered  her  in  a  hotel  and  he  took  her  to  the  mayor's 
office,  where  the  deputy-mayor  questioned  her.  D.  ended 
by  confessing  that  an  individual  had  induced  her  to  go 
away,  and  gave  his  name.  M.  Fabre  shut  D.  up  in  a  cell 
and  sent  for  the  individual  in  question,  whose  description 
corresponded  exactly  with  the  information  given  by  Anna 
Brieu. 


330  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

When  questioned  he  at  first  denied  everything.  M. 
Fabre  told  him  that  D.  had  confessed  all,  and  showing 
a  bold  front  began  the  account  of  the  facts  as  given 
through  the  somnambulist.  Seeing  that  the  young  man 
was  losing  his  assurance,  the  deputy-mayor  went  on  and 
related  what  had  happened  on  the  Quai  de  la  Charity. 
The  man  then  became  confused,  and  seeing  he  was  on 
a  good  track  M.  Fabre  went  on. 

Then  the  young  man  confessed  the  truth,  and  said : 

"  Yes,  it  is  true !  But  I  did  not  know  that  she  was 
under  age.  In  any  case  she  tells  a  lie  when  she  says  that 
I  took  her  to  a  woman's  house ;  there  was  no  woman  in  this 
affair.  I  took  her  to  a  certain  hotel ;  it  was  the  waiter  who 
gave  us  the  key  of  a  room.  I  left  the  hotel  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  I  do  not  know  what  became  of  her." 

M.  Fabre  put  the  individual  back  and  again  ques- 
tioned D. 

"  But,"  he  added,  "  I  know  also  what  you  did  at  Beziers, 
but  I  wish  you  to  tell  me,  and  if  you  do  not  tell  the  truth, 
beware." 

"Well,"  she  said,  "all  Monday  I  looked  for  a  place  at 
Beziers ;  I  did  not  find  one.  In  the  evening  I  went  back 
to  the  station  to  take  the  train,  but  I  missed  it.  At  the 
station  I  met  a  boatman  whom  I  knew  at  Narbonne,  and 
who  took  me  to  his  mother's  house  to  sleep." 

This,  therefore,  explained  the  strange  gap  in  Anna's 
declaration,  who  had  mixed  up  the  incidents  at  Beziers 
with  those  of  Narbonne,  and  had  only  mentioned  one 
individual  when  there  were  two  concerned.  The  streets 
which  the  somnambulist  did  not  recognise  as  belonging 
to  Narbonne  were  probably  the  streets  of  Beziers. 

Therefore  on  Tuesday  evening  Anna  was  able  to  per- 
ceive incidents  that  occurred  on  the  nights  of  Monday  to 
Tuesday,  and  Tuesday  to  Wednesday.  One  may  therefore 
ask  if  matter  in  general  does  not  possess  the  same  pro- 
perty as  the  cerebral  substance  of  preserving  impressions, 
namely,  the  traces  of  luminous  and  sonorous  vibrations. 
The  fluidic  sensorium,  or  astral  body  of  the  subject 
extending  to  a  distance,  would  cause  matter  to  vibrate, 


LUCIDITY   IN    DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      331 

just  as  it  causes  the  substance  of  the  brain  to  vibrate,  and 
the  impressions  received  are  given  back  again. 

Matter  would  then  give  back  its  impressions  as  though 
it  were  an  additional  brain,  and  would  constitute  for  the 
subject  a  sort  of  temporary  and  supplemental  brain. 

But  it  will  be  urged  against  this  hypothesis  that 
matter  has  received  a  crowd  of  impressions,  and  it  will  be 
asked  why  there  should  be  given  to  Anna  Brieu  the  acts, 
gestures,  and  words  of  D.  and  her  friend,  rather  than  any 
other  scene.  We  reply  that  the  same  objection  exists 
with  regard  to  the  faculties  of  the  brain,  and,  moreover, 
the  selection  is  perfectly  made.  If  I  desire  to  recall  the 
town  of  Marseilles,  it  is  that  town  and  no  other  that 
presents  itself  to  me.  Without  being  able  to  explain  how 
this  clear  distinction  is  made  between  the  picture  of 
Marseilles  previously  received  and  that  of  any  other  town, 
we  can  conceive  that,  by  reason  of  the  same  law,  the 
initial  idea  that  put  Anna  on  the  track  of  a  given  series 
of  facts  caused  this  series  of  events  and  no  other  to 
be  developed.  Even  the  gaps  which  were  discovered  in 
the  perception  of  the  somnambulist  support  this  hypo- 
thesis, because  we  jEind  the  same  omissions  in  the  ordinary 
working  of  the  memor3^  We  mix  up  facts,  or  sometimes 
supervise  them,  and  it  may  happen  that  in  the  picture  of 
a  town  evoked  by  the  will  we  erroneously  place  a  street 
or  a  monument  belonging  to  another  town.  It  is  these 
anomalies  which  often  result  in  the  contradictory  evidence 
of  different  witnesses  of  the  same  scene. 

A.  GouPiL. 

The  undersigned  certify  to  the  accuracy  of  the  facts 
reported  above,  relating  to  the  disappearance  of  the  girl 
M.  D.  and  to  the  information  supplied  by  the  somnam- 
bulist Anna  Brieu. 

(Signed)     P.  Fabre,  deputy-tnayor. 
L.  Weill,  inerchant. 

F.  NfeGRE,  journalist  on  the  "  Petit  Paris- 
Narbonne,"  employed  in  the  mayor's 
o^ce. 

March  17,  1896. 


332  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


3.  Case  of  the  Sub-prefecture 

This  happened  in  July  1894,  at  the  time  of  the 
reactionary  laws.  As  chief  of  the  Socialist  party,  Dr. 
Ferroul  was  in  conflict  with  the  Government  party. 

One  day  the  mayor's  secretary  came  to  inform  Dr. 
Ferroul  that  a  detective  had  arrived  from  Carcassonne 
to  take  the  chief  commissioner  at  the  mayor's  office  and 
bring  him  before  the  sub-prefect. 

Dr.  Ferroul  thought  of  making  use  of  Anna's  faculties. 
He  sent  for  her,  put  her  to  sleep,  and  sent  her  to  the 
sub-prefecture. 

"  I  am  there,"  she  said. 

"  Where  are  you  ? " 

"  In  the  courtyard." 

"  You  ought  not  to  be  in  the  courtyard.  Find  me  the 
sub-prefect." 

"  There  he  is  !  He  is  in  his  office  with  three  people — 
the  chief,  another  man  who  has  come  from  a  distance,  and 
a  man  with  a  white  beard  whom  I  do  not  know." 

"  How  do  they  name  him  ?  " 

"  Ah !  they  do  not  name  him.  Do  you  know,  Dr. 
Ferroul,  what  that  man  thinks  ? " 

(In  this  condition  Anna  Brieu  expresses  herself  like  a 
child.) 

"  What  does  he  think  ?  " 

"  He  thinks :  '  What  am  I  doing  here  ?  They  will  com- 
promise me  with  their  police  affairs.  I  am  going.'  Ah  ! 
the  detective  from  Carcassonne  takes  out  a  letter  and 
gives  it  to  the  sub-prefect.  He  tells  him  that  it  is  an 
anonymous  letter  that  has  been  sent  him.  Wait;  he  is 
talking  about  you  to  the  sub-prefect." 

"  What  does  he  say  ? " 

"  He  says :  '  As  to  Ferroul,  I  will  take  away  all  his 
rights ;  I  will  only  leave  him  what  I  cannot  take  away  of 
his  mayoral  duties.'  Ah  !  the  detective  from  Carcassonne 
hands  him  a  list,  and  says  that  it  is  a  list  of  people  to  be 
watched. 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      333 

"  What  is  there  on  this  list  ? " 

The  somnambulist  mentioned  three  names,  then  added : 

"  Ah !  he  has  put  it  in  his  pocket ;  I  camiot  see  any 
more.  Two  detectives  have  come  in,  Chaubet  and  Tirefort ; 
they  give  them  an  order — they  have  gone ;  the  gentleman 
with  the  white  beard  is  going  also." 

"  FolloAv  him,"  said  Dr.  Ferroul,  "  and  try  to  find  out 
who  he  is." 

"  Ah,  he  goes  into  such  a  house ;  they  tell  him  that 
monsieur  is  not  there,  but  they  do  not  call  him  by  any 
name.  He  goes  to  another  house,  the  servant  opens  to 
him  and  calls  him  M.  X." 

In  his  newspaper,  La  R^publique  sociale  of  July  22, 
1894,  Dr.  Ferroul  spoke  of  this  meeting  at  the  office  of 
the  sub-prefect  and  quoted  the  words  used  in  regard  to 
himself  by  the  sub-prefect,  but  without  saying  in  Avhat 
way  he  had  obtained  the  information. 

The  sub-prefect  in  great  agitation  sent  for  the  chief 
commissioner.  Dr.  Ferroul  was  warned  and  again  made 
use  of  the  somnambulist,  who  gave  him  certain  information, 
and  amongst  it  the  following : 

"  Ah !  the  commissioner  thinks  you  have  obtained  the 
information  through  me,  but  he  does  not  dare  say  so." 

(The  case  of  the  servant  that  disappeared  had  been 
spread  abroad,  and  was  doubtless  the  cause  of  this  mental 
reflection  of  the  commissioner.) 

However,  the  sub-prefect  and  the  commissioner,  im- 
puting some  indiscretion  to  Chaubet  and  Tirefort,  asked 
Dr.  Ferroul  to  dismiss  the  two  detectives.  Dr.  Ferroul 
refused.  They  then  made  a  report  to  the  prefect  against 
the  two  agents,  one  was  dismissed  and  the  other  suspended. 

In  his  following  issue  Dr.  Ferroul  protested,  and  men- 
tioned the  list  and  the  letter  in  blue  pencil. 

The  conviction  of  the  commissioner  resulted  from  the 
fact  that  the  two  detectives  were  not  present  when  the 
detective  passed  the  list  and  the  anonymous  letter  to 
the  sub-prefect,  which  was  pointed  out  to  the  commissioner 
when  the  Bepublique  sociale  mentioned  these  documents. 

"It  is  therefore  you,"  they  said  to  the  commissioner, 


334  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  who  has  informed  the  mayor  what  you  said  at  the  sub- 
prefect's  office." 

Two  or  three  days  afterwards,  Dr.  David,  a  physician  at 
Narbonne,  was  in  a  carriage  with  the  commissioner,  going 
to  the  suburbs  to  make  a  medico-legal  examination. 
Adroitly  leading  the  conversation  up  to  hypnotic  pheno- 
mena, the  commissioner  asked  Dr.  David  if  he  thought 
it  possible  a  sleeping  subject  could  go  and  witness  the  acts 
and  gestures  of  persons  at  a  distance." 

"  Quite,"  replied  Dr.  David,  "  but  for  that  there  must 
be  a  preliminarj'  training  and  a  specially  gifted  subject." 

"  Well,  there  are  no  means  of  making  the  sub-prefect 
believe  that ;  he  says  it  is  all  humbug." 

"  In  order  to  settle  it,  shut  yourself  up  with  the 
sub-prefect  at  an  appointed  time ;  if  Dr.  Ferroul  tells 
you  exactly  what  you  have  said,  the  sub-prefect  will  be 
satisfied." 

"  Bless  me,  no !  He  would  say  that  I  had  divulged 
it,  and  I  should  be  discharged." 

"  On  the  day  that  you  were  alone  with  the  sub-prefect 
did  you  not  think  that  it  was  through  Anna  that  Ferroul 
had  these  particulars  ? " 

"  Upon  my  word,  yes  ?  But  I  did  not  dare  to  say  so 
for  fear  the  sub-prefect  would  laugh  at  me." 

Another  Case  of  Lucidity  obtained  with  Anna  B. 
in  1894 

Two  groups,  over  five  hundred  yards  apart,  had  arranged 
to  experiment  at  the  same  time. 

Dr.  Ferroul,  Dr.  David,  and  Anna  B.  were  in  one  room, 
and  the  persons  in  the  other  were  to  act  in  any  way  they 
pleased. 

A  simple  pass  over  her  eyes  was  sufficient  to  put  Anna 
into  the  state  of  lucid  somnambulism.  She  always  spoke 
in  a  low  voice,  with  a  confident  air,  and  emphasised  what 
she  said  by  putting  her  finger  on  her  nose. 

In  this  experiment  she  preserved,  as  in  an  ordinary 
dream,  the  perception  of  distance.     Dr.  Ferroul  having 


LUCIDITY    IN    DEEP   SOMNAINIBULISM      335 

given  her  the  order  to  go  to  the  other  group,  she  imagined 
that  she  was  going  thither  on  foot  with  him  and  said : 

"  Do  not  go  so  quickly ;  I  cannot  foll(jw  you." 

She  then  described  the  persons  assembled  there,  some 
of  whom  were  unknown  to  her,  and  Doctors  Ferroul  and 
David.  She  gave  their  names  when  she  heard  them 
named  by  the  other  persons. 

Here  is  one  part  of  her  statements : 

"  They  say  that  that  is  not  possible." 

"  Yet,  let  us  try,"  said  M.  B. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ? "  said  M.  H. 

"  Play  some  innocent  games,"  Mme.  H.  said. 

"  Ah !  they  put  little  K.  in  the  midst  of  them ;  they 
bandage  her  eyes  (here  she  gave  a  description  of  the 
game). 

"No  matter,"  says  M.  B.,  "we  look  like  a  lot  of 

gathered  here." 

"  Oh  !  oh  ! "  says  M.  H. ;  "  there  are  ladies  present,  &c." 

Dr.  Ferroul  took  a  note  of  all  that  the  subject  said, 
and  when  the  experiment  was  over  he  put  the  report 
into  an  envelope  and  sent  it  immediately  to  the  persons 
assembled ;  the  account  was  found  correct  in  every  detail. 


Letter  Lost  and  Read  by  Lucidity 

Dr.  Ferroul  had  not  received  a  letter  to  which  a  reply 
was  urgently  requested. 

He  mstructed  Anna  B.  to  go  to  the  house  of  the  person 
who  had  written  the  letter  and  who  lived  in  a  distant 
town,  and  to  go  back  so  many  days  in  order  to  come  to 
the  time  at  which  the  letter  was  written,  and  to  find  out 
what  had  become  of  it.  Anna  said  she  saw  this  person 
taking  the  letter  to  post  and  put  it  in  the  letter-box. 
Dr.  Ferroul  told  her  to  follow  the  letter. 

But  having  retained  the  idea  of  comparative  dimen- 
sions, she  resisted  and  said  : 

"  Me  !  go  into  that  little  hole  ?     Never." 

Seeing  that  she  was  going  to  cry,  Dr.  Ferroul  awakened 


336  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

her,  then  put  her  to  sleep  again  and  recommenced,  but 
telUng  her  to  read  the  letter  while  it  was  being  written. 

Anna  read  it,  and  Dr.  Ferroul  replied  as  though  he  had 
received  the  letter.  His  reply  and  the  particulars  after- 
wards received  agreed  absolutely  with  what  the  sensitive 
had  said. 

M.  X.,  a  friend  of  Dr.  Ferroul,  had  gone  to  Poitiers 
a  few  days  before.  Dr.  Ferroul  wished  to  try,  by  way  of 
experiment,  to  find  out  when  he  would  return.  In  thought 
he  transported  Anna  to  the  station  at  Poitiers. 

Anna,  who  knew  M.  X.,  spoke  of  seeing  him  on  his 
arrival  at  the  station,  and  said  that  he  took  a  carriage. 

"  Ah,  well,"  said  Dr.  F.,  "  get  in  with  him." 

"  But  he  will  see  me." 

"  No,  do  not  be  frightened,  I  am  a  sorcerer,  and  he 
will  not  see  you." 

The  somnambulist  passed  from  one  point  to  another 
of  the  events  as  they  occurred,  just  as  takes  place  in  an 
ordinary  dream.  She  observed  first  of  all  the  name  of  the 
street  and  the  number  of  the  house  to  which  M.  X.  went ; 
then  she  said  that  he  was  introduced  to  some  people  whom 
he  called  M.  and  Mme.  M.,  whom  Dr.  F.  did  not  know  at  all. 

The  somnambulist  then  spoke  of  a  luncheon,  in  the 
course  of  which  M.  X.  said  that  he  did  not  care  for  the 
wine  they  gave  him  until  it  had  been  five  or  six  years  in 
bottle ;  then  she  spoke  of  other  incidents. 

Suddenly  she  said :  "  Oh,  do  you  know,  he  thinks 
that  he  must  send  a  telegram  announcing  his  return  at 
seven  o'clock  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

"  But  on  what  day  does  he  think  that  ? " 

"  I  do  not  know." 

"  Is  there  not  a  calendar  there  ? " 

"  Ah,  yes,  I  see  one  on  the  wall ;  but  what  date  is  it 
to-day?" 

"  The  fourth,"  said  M.  F. 

"Then  they  have  forgotten  to  tear  off  three  leaves, 
because  it  is  marked  first,  I  see." 

City  of  Paris,  October  1st,  menu  of  the  day,  such  and 
such  dishes. 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   SOMNAMBULISM      337 

Dr.  Ferroul  telegraphed  on  the  chance  to  the  address 
given  by  the  somnambulist,  asking  that  they  would  send 
him  the  calendar  in  the  dining-room  without  touching  it, 
and  he  would  return  it  the  next  day. 

He  received  the  calendar,  which  bore  the  date  of 
October  1st,  as  Anna  had  declared.  M.  X.  arrived  by  train 
at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  said  that  all  that 
the  somnambulist  had  stated  was  correct. 


Receding  through  an  Opaque  Sealed  Packet 

On  November  19,  1894,  Dr.  Ferroul  succeeded  with 
his  subject  Anna  in  a  very  remarkable  experiment  of 
reading  through  an  opaque  packet,  through  which  a 
normal  person,  endowed  with  good  sight,  could  not  read 
by  transparence.     This  packet  consisted  of: — 

1.  An  opaque  green  outer  envelope  ; 

2.  A  second  envelope  of  English  paper  enclosed  in  the 
first ; 

3.  Two  sheets  of  cross-ruled  paper,  enclosing 

4.  Another  sheet  on  which  two  verses  were  written. 
Thus  there  were  two  envelopes  and  tAvo  sheets  of  paper 

to  pass  through  before  coming  to  the  sheet  containing  the 
inscription  to  be  read. 

The  outside  envelope  was  sealed  with  five  seals  on  the 
back;  a  supplementary  seal  was  placed  on  the  front  of 
the  envelope,  just  opposite  to  one  of  the  corner  seals  on 
the  back. 

A  hole  had  been  made  in  the  envelope,  at  the  place 
where  the  two  seals  were  to  come,  in  order  that  the  wax, 
penetrating  through  this  hole,  might  fasten  the  second 
envelope  inside  the  first  and  not  allow  it  to  be  withdrawn 
without  tearing.  Three  little  dots,  hardly  perceptible, 
had  been  marked  with  a  pen  on  the  outside  envelope 
by  M.  Goupil,  who  had  carefully  measured  the  distances 
between  them.  M.  Goupil  had  also  made  a  drawing  of 
the  seals,  carefully  indicating  their  outlines  and  the  black 
spots  with  which  they  were  covered,  in  order  to  be  quite 

Y 


338  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

certain  of  being  able  to  recognise  them  and  make  sm'e  that 
they  were  his  own  seals. 

The  inside  envelope  bore  in  the  corners  the  letters  a, 
b,  c,  d,  traced  with  a  pencil  (the  6  seen  upside  down  might 
be  mistaken  for  a  2) ;  it  bore  also  two  dots  at  a  measured 
distance  apart.  The  a  Avas  enclosed  between  the  two  seals 
opposite  one  another,  and  which  passed  through  the  first 
envelope.  It  was  perhaps  because  of  this  that  the  somnam- 
bulist did  not  see  this  letter,  which  was  hidden  on  both 
sides  by  the  wax. 

The  packet  was  entrusted  to  Dr.  Ferroul,  who  was 
entirely  ignorant  of  its  contents,  in  order  that  he  might 
cause  it  to  be  read  by  his  subject  when  in  a  state  of 
somnambulism.  When  he  had  made  the  experiment 
he  returned  with  the  packet  and  a  sheet  of  paper  on 
which  he  had  written  down  the  information  given  by 
the  subject. 

After  a  very  careful  examination  the  packet  was 
recognised  as  being  quite  intact. 

Dr.  Ferroul  then  handed  to  M.  Fabre  the  sheet  of 
paper  giving  the  following  particulars : — 

"  White  English  paper  envelope  d,  2,  c. 

"  Square-ruled,  another  paper  inside. 

'"'  The  man  has  made  two  verses ;  he  is  not  making 

game  of  me. 

"  Votre  parti  certainement 
Se  tue  par  I'assainissement." 

(This  sheet  also  bore  the  following  note  by  Dr. 
Ferroul :) 

"  On  awaking  her  she  told  me  that  she  had  dreamed  it 
and  had  told  it  to  some  one.  This  person  has  codjc  and 
attested  this." 

This  sheet  having  been  examined  and  read  by  the  eight 
witnesses  of  this  experiment,  M.  Goupil  handed  the  packet 
to  M.  Aldy,  lawyer,  that  he  might  open  it,  and  that  the 
witnesses  might  at  once  ascertain  what  was  the  result. 
As  shown  by  the  official  report  prepared  at  the  time,  the 
success  of  the  experiment  was  complete.     The  very  con- 


LUCIDITY   IN   DEEP   S(3MNA]MHULISM     339 

cise  note  added  by  Dr.  Ferroul  to  the  description  of  the 
packet  by  the  subject  needs  to  be  made  more  complete. 

After  the  somnambuKst  had  declared  Avhat  was  in  the 
packet,  Dr.  Ferroul  awakened  her  and  told  her  what  she 
had  said. 

"  Oh,"  said  she,  "  I  dreamed  it  three  days  ago,  and  I 
said  to  X.  that  I  would  read  you  a  packet  in  which  there 
were  two  verses  ending  in  mient,  but  all  that  I  remembered 
was  that  the  last  word  was  assainissement." 

Dr.  Ferroul  then  called  the  person  in  question,  who 
asserted  that  Anna  had  really  said  this. 


Official  Report 

Narbonne,  November  19,  1894. 

The  undersigned,  assembled  at  the  Cafe  de  la  Bourse 
at  half-past  eight  this  evening,  certify  as  follows : — 

Dr.  Ferroul  having  declared  to  us  that  he  would  prove 
the  lucidity  of  Mile.  A.  with  regard  to  a  sealed  packet  pro- 
vided by  M.  Goupil,  first  asked  M.  Goupil  to  certify  that 
his  packet  remained  intact. 

Dr.  Ferroul  then  handed  to  M.  Fabre,  restaurant- 
keeper,  the  writing  in  pencil  herewith  enclosed,  containing 
the  statements  by  Mile.  A. 

"White  envelope,  English  paper,  d,  2,  c. 

"  A  sheet  of  paper  cross-ruled. 

"  Another  sheet  of  paper  inside. 

"The  man  makes  two  verses;   he  is  not  making  fun 

of  me. 

"  Votre  parti  certainement 
Se  tue  par  I'assainissement." 

After  the  witnesses  had  examined  the  pencil  writing 
drawn  up  by  Dr.  Ferroul  according  to  the  dictation  of  his 
subject,  M.  Goupil  handed  to  M.  Aldy,  principal  deputy- 
mayor  and  laAvyer,  the  sealed  envelope  in  order  that  he 
might  open  it  himself ;  the  second  envelope  was  slightly 
torn   at  the  corner  where  the  two  seals  were,  and  the 


340  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

witnesses  found  that  cverytliing  was  in  conformity  with 
the  statements  made  by  the  subject. 

Made  at  Narbonne,  November  19,  1894. 

Hubert  Fabre. 

MuRAT,  municipal  councillor. 

Dr.  Ferroul,  mayor. 

Aldy,  lawyer. 

PiGLOWSY,  landowner. 

F.  NfeGRE,  journalist. 

Maymou,  restaurant-keeiJer. 

GouPiL,  engineer. 

We  ought  to  remark  that  this  experiment  took  place  in 
November  1894 — that  is  to  say,  more  than  a  year  before 
Rontgen's  discovery  was  known.  Radiography  is  there- 
fore here  out  of  the  question,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
it  enables  expert  operators  to  photograph  and  therefore 
read  writing  enclosed  in  an  opaque  packet,  it  in  no  way 
diminishes  the  value  of  this  experiment,  which  seems  to 
have  been  carried  out  under  the  best  conditions. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

LUCIDITY  IN   THE   FUTURE 

A  Phenomenon  Studied  by  the  Society  of  Scientific 
Psychology  at  Munich 

We  shall  devote  this  chapter  to  the  study  of  a  case  of 
lucidity  in  the  future,  which  has  been  scientifically 
ascertained  and  verified  by  the  Society  of  Scientific 
Psychology  at  Munich.  The  following  is  the  report  of 
the  President  of  this  Society. 

Karl  du  Prel  left  to  the  Society  of  Scientific  Psy- 
chology at  Munich  a  document  which  has  been  legally 
transmitted  to  me  as  President  of  this  Society.  It  was 
contained  in  a  packet  of  which  the  superscription,  seals, 
&c.,  are  minutely  described  further  on. 

In  1892  du  Prel  deposited  this  document  in  the 
hands  of  M.  Wenglein,  notary  and  councillor  to  the  court 
at  Munich,  who  did  not  wish  to  open  it  himself,  although 
he  was  authorised  to  do  so,  under  certain  conditions,  as 
will  be  seen  later.  I,  in  my  turn,  left  it  in  the  office  of 
M.  Ptindter,  successor  to  M.  Wenglein,  who  had  died  in  the 
meantime.  I  went  to  the  painter  Hubert  Frosch,  whose 
name  was  inscribed  on  the  packet  as  holding  full  powers 
from  Baron  du  Prel  to  decide,  after  his  death,  the  date  for 
opening  the  document ;  I  wished  to  obtain  from  him 
certain  explanations  as  to  the  matter,  of  which  I  was 
quite  ignorant,  and  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  him, 
in  any  case,  as  to  the  date  of  opening.  M.  Frosch  told 
me  that  it  related  to  some  very  remarkable  predictions 
made  at  Jerusalem  in  1885,  and  which  had  been  verified 
in  a  surprising  manner  in  almost  every  detail.  A  great 
part  of  those  predictions  having  been  realised  in  1891,  he 
found  occasion,  through  others,  to  inform  Baron  du  Prel 


342  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

of  this  affair,  and  the  latter  drew  up  a  statement,  on  his 
information,  in  order  to  verify  such  of  the  predicted  facts 
as  had  not  yet  been  realised.  Mme.  Frosch  confirmed  to 
me  the  repeated  surprises  which  her  husband  had  experi- 
enced, on  finding  the  events  prophesied  realised  one  after 
another ;  she  gave  me  the  details  of  these  events,  which 
chiefly  concerned  the  deceased  painter  Bruno  Piglhein 
and  his  relations  with  Karl  Frosch,  all  corresponding 
perfectly  with  the  account  given  by  her  husband.  This 
lady  had  had  special  reason  for  fixing  in  her  memory  all 
that  her  husband  had  so  impressively  related  to  her,  after 
his  return  from  the  East,  about  these  curious  prophecies ; 
for  she  herself  played  a  part  in  them  which  is  not  indi- 
cated in  the  documentary  account  made  known  later. 
According  to  her  husband,  the  prophet  had  predicted  that 
she  also  would  become  a  painter,  would  earn  high  dis- 
tinction, and  give  lessons  in  painting. 

M.  Frosch  had  protested  in  vain  against  this  pre- 
diction, asserting  that  such  a  thing  would  never  happen. 
At  the  time  when  this  prophecy  was  given  M.  Frosch 
might  have  been  right ;  but  as  time  went  on  and  brought 
its  vicissitudes  it  nevertheless  was  destined  to  be  realised. 
Mme.  Frosch  became  a  painter  of  flowers  of  some  repute, 
under  the  pseudonym  of  Maria  Nyl,  and  did  not  lack 
either  honours  or  pupils.  The  opening  of  the  document 
was  finally  fixed  for  November  30,  1899,  at  half-past  ten 
in  the  morning,  at  the  office  of  the  notary  M.  Plindter. 
The  following  is  the  text  of  the  notarial  memorandum 
relative  to  the  opening  of  the  document : — 


Notary's  Statement 

This  day,  November  30,  1899,  there  appeared  before 
me,  Dr.  Franz  Plindter,  royal  notary  at  Munich,  at  my 
office,  the  undermentioned  gentlemen : — 

1.  Ritter  Eugcn  von  Stieler,  painter,  of  Munich. 

2.  Karl  Hubert  Frosch,  painter,  of  Munich. 

3.  Karl  Albert  Baur,  painter,  of  Munich. 

4.  Ludwig  Deinhard,  author,  of  Munich. 


LUCIDITY    IN   THE   FUTURE  343 

5.  Martin  Grief,  author,  of  Munich. 

6.  Dr.  Walter  Bormann,  author,  of  Munich. 

These  gentlemen  requested  me  to  state  by  notarial 
document  as  follows : — 

Dr.  Walter  Bormann,  in  the  first  place,  deposited  a 
document  signed  by  Dr.  August  Ullrich,  Director  of  the 
High  School  for  Girls  at  Nuremberg,  and  dated  the  25th 
of  this  month,  conferring  upon  him  full  power  to  re- 
place him  at  the  opening  of  du  Prel's  document  by  the 
accredited  notary,  and  the  right  to  act  in  his  place  as 
might  be  necessary. 

The  same  gentleman  handed  to  the  notary  a  packet 
sealed  with  five  private  seals  and  bearing  on  its  front  the 
following  superscription :  "  Property  of  the  Society  of 
Scientific  Psychology  at  Munich.  This  document  is  to 
be  opened  at  a  time  determined  by  me.  In  case  of  my 
decease,  M.  Karl  Frosch  will  fix  the  time.  It  is  to  be 
opened  in  the  presence  of  the  persons  whose  seals  are 
affixed  to  the  back  of  the  packet.  Munich,  January  14, 
1892.  Karl  du  Prel." 

On  the  back  of  the  packet  are  affixed  five  different 
seals,  each  with  a  signature,  as  follows : — 

1.  January  21,  1892,  Karl  Albert  Baur,  Hesses- 
strasse  1a. 

2.  Demhard,  February  12,  1892,  Georgenstrasse  13,  II. 

3.  Paul  du  Prel,  Herrenstrasse  13. 

4.  February  3,  1892,  Eugen  von  Stieler,  Fiirstenstrasse 
16,  11. 

5.  Dr.  A.  Ullrich,  Schlossstrasse  6a,  I. 

The  gentlemen  present  mentioned  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  document  first  assured  themselves  that  the 
packet  handed  in  by  Dr.  Bormann  was  intact  in  every 
part,  and,  in  particular,  that  the  seals  were  intact ;  then 
these  same  gentlemen,  especially  those  who  had  signed 
the  packet  on  the  back — that  is  to  say,  Karl  Albert  Baur, 
Ludwig  Deinhard  and  Eugen  von  Stieler,  as  well  as  Dr. 
Bormann,  empowered  by  Dr.  August  Ullrich — requested 
me  to  open  the  said  packet  in  the  presence  of  the  persons 


344  PSYCHICAI.   PHENOMENA 

assembled,  the  signatories  of  the  packet  having  recognised 
as  valid  the  authority  given  by  Dr.  August  Ullrich  of 
Nuremberg  to  Dr.  Bormann,  and  Baron  Carl  du  Prel,  one 
of  the  signatories  to  the  envelope  having  been  declared  to 
have  died  on  August  5th  of  this  year.  In  conformity 
with  the  invitation  given  me,  I  opened  the  envelope  given 
me  in  the  presence  of  the  persons  above  mentioned  and 
drew  therefrom  a  sheet  of  large-sized  letter  paper,  having 
writing  on  all  four  sides,  the  writing  commencing  as 
follows  : — Statement :  "  Munich,  December  27,  1891.  To- 
day at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  following  gentle- 
men came  to  me,"  and  ending  with  the  words :  "  Perhaps 
again  the  seer  purposely  remains  obscure  and  passed  over 
in  silence  the  clear  and  distinct  vision  that  he  may  have 
had  on  this  point.  Carl  du  Prel. 

K.  Frosch,  Painter." 

This  document  was  read  before  the  gentlemen  present, 
word  for  word,  by  me,  the  notary,  in  the  exercise  of  my 
duty,  in  accordance  with  their  wish  ;  then  it  was  returned 
with  the  envelope  to  Dr.  Bormann.  Dr.  Bormann  claimed 
a  copy  of  the  preceding  attestation,  and  added  that  in 
his  capacity  of  President  of  the  Society  of  Scientific  Psy- 
chology of  Munich  he  was  qualified,  as  well  as  M.  Dein- 
hard,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  that 
Society,  their  claims  being  officially  recognised,  to  sign 
this  copy.  A  minute  to  this  effect  was  adopted  and  duly 
signed.  Before  signing.  Dr.  Bormann  again  handed  to  the 
notary  the  document  mentioned  in  the  preceding  attesta- 
tion and  invited  him  to  add  to  the  present  statement  a 
certified  copy  of  the  document,  and  to  file  it  among  the 
other  papers.  This  statement  was  read,  adopted,  and 
signed. 

Eugen  von  Stieler. 

Karl  H.  Frosch. 

Karl  Albert  Bauer. 

Ludwig  Deinhard,  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Society  of  Scientific  Psychology. 

Martin  Grief. 


LUCIDITY   IN   THE   FUTURE  345 

Dr.  Walter  Boriiiann,  President  of  the  Society  of  Scien- 
tific Psychology. 

Dr.  Piindter,  royal  notary. 

The  following  is  the  purport  of  the  document  in 
question,  with  the  omission  of  some  unimportant  pass- 
ages, which  are  left  out  because  some  persons  now  living 
are  there  designated,  and  which,  moreover,  contain  some 
unrealised  predictions  concerning  the  artist  Frosch. 

Ka.rl  du  Prel's  Documents 

Munich,  December  27,  1891.  To-day  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  MM.  Martin  Grief,  author;  Ernest  Miiller, 
artist ;  and  Karl  Frosch,  artist,  came  to  me.  Karl  Frosch 
related  to  me  as  follows : — 

In  April  1885, 1  was  at  Jerusalem  in  company  with  the 
artist  Bruno  Piglhein  and  his  wife,  as  well  as  the  artists 
Joseph  Krieger  and  Rene  Reinike.  We  lodged  at  the 
German  hospice.  We  were  one  day  introduced  to  an 
elderly  gentleman,  said  to  be  a  professor  at  Edinburgh  and 
an  orientalist,  named  .  .  .  the  name  is  omitted  in  the 
document,  because  at  the  time  of  draAving  it  up  M.  Karl 
Frosch  had  forgotten  it ;  he  was  afterwards  easily  able  to 
ascertain  the  name  at  the  hospice.  It  was  Robert  Laing, 
born  in  Scotland,  but  not  a  professor  at  Edinburgh,  as  is 
wrongly  stated  here.  He  was  then  a  Fellow  of  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford,  and  perhaps  the  same  person  as 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Psychical  Research,  R.  Laing, 
at  present  Professor  at  the  Boys'  High  School  at  Christ- 
church,  New  Zealand ;  he  joined  us  at  our  table.  He 
often  spoke  of  strange  things — saying,  for  example,  to  M. 
Reinike,  that  he  had  known  him  in  a  previous  existence 
and  conversed  on  things  relating  to  the  transmigration  of 
souls,  so  that  we  regarded  him  with  astonishment,  and 
could  not  help  thinking  that  he  was  slightly  deranged. 
One  day,  after  the  meal — I  remember  very  well  all  the 
circumstances  of  this  colloquy — he  said  to  me :  "  Ah,  well, 
'gentlemen,  your  work — a  panorama  of  Jerusalem  which 
we  had  painted  conjointly — your  work  interests  me,  and  I 


346  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

am  determined  to  consult  the  future  as  to  your  destiny, 
and  Avhat  will  happen  to  you  all.  "You  two,"  he  said, 
pointing  to  Piglhein  and  myself,  "will  become  mortal 
enemies  through  your  work."  This  statement  made  us 
both  laugh,  but  he  continued : 

"  And  you,  this  affair  will  be  your  loss," 

"Mine!"  I  cried. 

"  Not  yours,"  he  replied,  "  but  this  gentleman's."  And 
he  pointed  to  Piglhein. 

"And  what  will  his  loss  be!"  I  asked,  I  expected  it 
would  be  a  fall  of  Piglhein  from  his  artist's  trestle  or 
something  similar. 

But  my  interlocutor  added:  "The  painting  will  be 
finished ;  but  something  will  happen  in  connection  with 
this  matter,  Avith  this  painting,  and  that  will  be  your 
loss,  Monsieur  Piglhein," 

Piglhein  laughed  and  said :  "  Really,  you  are  a  pleasant 
companion." 

His  wife  also  laughed,  and  wished  to  know  at  what  time 
this  event  would  come  to  pass. 

"  Will  the  picture  be  finished  ? "  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  replied;  "but  the  event  will  happen  some 
years  hence." 

Mme.  Piglhein  laughing,  said  that  after  some  years, 
twenty  or  thirty  perhaps,  her  husband  would  surely  die. 

"No,"  he  replied,  "if  I  speak  of  some  years  it  means 
five  or  ten  years.  It  may  be  ten  years,  but  it  will  not  be 
longer,  because  I  have  seen  it  too  distinctly,  and  when 
I  see  a  thing  clearly  it  happens  within  about  ten  years." 

"  And  what  will  happen  to  me  ? "  I  asked. 

"You  will  paint  the  picture  three  or  four  times  and 
nothing  unpleasant  will  happen  to  you." 

"  But  why  shall  we  become  mortal  enemies  ? "  I  asked, 

"  Because  of  this  painting,"  he  replied,  "  You  will  have 
to  see  many  countries  on  account  of  this  business.  I  have 
seen  the  sea  and  a  boat,  and  that  indicates  a  long  voyage. 
You  will  find  yourself  on  this  boat  with  two  painters,  I 
have  seen  that  very  distinctly.  The  sight  of  these  two 
painters  struck  me ;  they  are  wearing  peculiar  cloaks  and 


LUCIDITY   IN   THE    FUTURE  347 

fur-lined  caps  such  as  I  have  never  seen  before  either  in 
England  or  at  Jerusalem.  You  seem  to  have  suffered 
much  from  sea-sickness ;  you  are  really  looking  ill.  You 
will  take  one  of  your  panoramas  to  England,  perhaps 
because  of  a  proposition  that  will  be  made  to  you.  I  see 
that  distinctly.  I  see  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London 
Avith  its  great  dome.  From  this  time  you  will  have  a 
lawsuit  because  of  this  picture ;  this  suit  will  originate  in 
London.  There  will  be  proceedings,  and  action  will  also 
be  taken  against  you  in  Germany." 

"  What  will  be  the  result  ? " 

"  Nothing ;  the  suits  will  have  no  results." 

"  What  more  will  happen  to  me  ?  " 

"  Nothing  but  good." 

"  How  many  times  shall  I  paint  the  picture  ? "  then 
asked  M.  Reinike. 

"  You  will  not  even  take  part  in  its  completion." 

"  But  I  wish  to  take  part  in  it ;  that  is  the  purpose  of 
my  journey  to  Jerusalem." 

"  What  of  that !  You  will  not  take  part  in  this  paint- 
ing." 

At  this  moment  Krieger,  who  had  been  absent  up  to 
now,  came  into  the  room.  I  related  to  him  what  had 
been  said,  and  urged  him  to  also  ask  for  a  prediction  for 
himself.  At  first  he  refused,  because  he  was  obliged  to  go 
out  again,  but  he  presently  asked : 

"  Shall  I  marry  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  it  will  not  be  a  happy  marriage.  It  will  not 
be  long  before  you  are  divorced." 

The  seer  urged  us  to  write  down  all  that  he  had  said. 
He  might  have  said  many  more  things,  he  said,  but  he 
did  not  wish  to  continue  since  we  were  not  willing  to 
believe  even  what  he  had  already  said. 

"  Have  you  heard  of  second-sight  ? "  he  asked  me. 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that  it  is  common  in  Scotland." 

"  Well,  I  am  gifted  with  this  second-sight,"  remarked 
the  seer. 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  seer  wore  on  his  finger  a  ring 
which  had  been  given  to  him  by  a  Brahmin  to  whom  he 


348  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

had  rendered  a  service.  When  he  desbed  information  on 
any  subject  he  had  only  to  look  at  this  ring,  and  then  he 
saw  a  picture  forming  before  him,  like  a  dream.  When 
it  was  a  town,  he  saw  it  from  above,  over  the  country. 
Before  we  parted  he  again  repeated  to  me  once  more  that 
the  words  he  had  already  used,  "  This  affair  will  be  your 
loss,"  did  not  apply  to  both  of  us,  Piglhein  and  myself, 
but  only  to  Piglhein.  That  was  a  matter  of  course,  he 
observed,  since  otherwise  what  he  had  prophesied  could 
not  come  true. 

"  In  the  five  years  that  are  to  come,"  he  added,  "  you 
will  suffer  much  unpleasantness." 

"  However,  I  am  pleased  with  Munich,"  I  replied,  "  and 
I  have  no  intention  of  leaving  that  city." 

"  So  many  unpleasant  things  will  happen  that  Munich 
will  cease  to  be  so  congenial  to  you.  But  after  that  you 
will  be  happier.  Your  life  will  be  quiet,  and  you  will 
reach  a  good  age." 

Among  the  events  predicted,  the  following  have  since 
come  to  pass.  I  really  made  long  journeys  in  connection 
with  this  picture,  particularly  to  America.  My  colleagues, 
two  German  artists,  who  came  from  America  over  this 
matter,  and  invited  me  to  make  this  voyage,  had  made 
for  them  in  Munich  a  kind  of  shepherd  cloaks  with  capes, 
like  the  peasants  of  the  good  old  times  used  to  wear, 
furnished  with  large  metal  clasps,  almost  as  big  as  plates. 
They  made  a  sensation  everywhere,  and  also  on  board 
ship.  I  was  really  sea-sick  on  the  voyage,  and  was  ill 
for  six  days. 

The  artist  Reinike  did  not,  in  fact,  work  on  the  picture. 
I  painted  it  four  times.  One  of  the  copies  came  from 
America  to  London  under  my  name,  but  against  my  wish 
and  desire.  In  connection  with  this  a  lawsuit  was  com- 
menced at  London.  The  picture  was  confiscated  because 
M.  Haider  (who  was  the  owner  of  it)  had  already  let  out 
the  picture  to  an  English  contractor,  who,  by  virtue  of  this 
fact,  issued  proceedings  against  the  American  compan3^ 
I  Avas  also  prosecuted  at  the  Munich  court  for  infringe- 
ment.    But  as  the  seer  had  said,  it  came  to  nothing.     The 


LUCIDITY   IN   THE   FUTURE  349 

day  before  the  trial,  when  I  was  at  dinner,  I  received  a 
letter  from  my  lawyer,  Dr.  Vimmer,  telling  me  that  the 
trial  would  not  take  place,  because  the  plaintiff  had 
abandoned  the  suit  at  the  last  moment.  He  therefore 
had  to  bear  the  heavy  cost  of  the  proceedings. 

Piglhein  and  myself  were  set  at  variance  on  this 
occasion.  As  to  the  artist  Krieger,  he  has  married  since 
then,  but  has  entered  an  action  for  divorce  against  his 
wife.  (On  this  point  see  the  statement  below  made  by 
M.  Krieger.  Shortly  afterwards  the  divorce  was  granted, 
as  Mr.  Laing  had  predicted.) 

I  will  also  add  that  the  statement  of  the  seer  concern- 
ing Piglhein's  loss  must  not  be  understood  in  a  pecuniary 
sense.  It  is  sufficient  to  recall  the  question  that  Mme. 
Piglhein  put  on  this  point  (as  has  been  given  above,  with 
the  seer's  reply). 

As  in  the  course  of  these  later  years  a  great  part  of 
the  prophecies  in  question  have  been  realised,  contrary 
to  our  expectation,  I  went,  on  the  proposition  of  M.  Martin 
Grief,  in  company  with  the  gentlemen  named  above,  to 
Dr.  Carl  du  Prel  who — in  order  to  establish  documentary 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  reality  of  second-sight,  in  the 
event  of  the  remainder  of  the  prophecies  being  realised — 
wrote  out  the  present  statement,  the  accuracy  of  which  I 
certify  by  my  signature,  with  this  reservation,  that  having 
reported  the  facts  from  memory  I  cannot  guarantee  the 
literal  exactness  of  the  conversations  held. 

K.  Frosch,  Artist. 

Addition  viade  by  Dr.  Carl  du  Prel 

That  part  of  the  prophecy  which  concerns  M.  Piglhein  is 
couched  in  abstract  terms,  whilst  the  second-sight  visions 
are  always  concrete. 

I  conclude  from  this  that  this  part  of  the  prophecy  has 
another  source  than  the  others,  and  may  not  be  realised ; 
perhaps  agam  the  seer  purposely  remains  obscure  and 
passed  over  in  silence  the  clear  and  distinct  vision  that  he 
may  have  had  on  this  point.  Carl  du  Prel. 


350  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  document  ends  here.  After  the  statement  was 
drawn  up  in  December  1891,  and  the  packet  had  been 
secured  with  seals  affixed  by  four  persons  besides  Dr.  du 
Prel,  and  the  document  deposited  with  the  notary  in  1892, 
the  following  facts  occurred  : — 

During  the  night  of  April  27th  to  28th,  1892,  a  fire  at 
Vienna  destroyed  in  a  moment  this  picture  of  Jerusalem 
with  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  which  had  entailed  so  much 
labour,  executed  with  the  richest  resources  of  art,  so  uni- 
versally known  and  admired,  and  which  Piglhein  had 
executed  with  the  assistance  of  the  artists  Karl  Frosch 
and  Josef  Krieger.  Bruno  Piglhein  braced  himself  against 
this  stroke  of  fortune  and  conceived  the  idea  of  painting 
the  picture  again,  of  reproducing  it  more  beautifully  than 
ever,  thus  setting  destiny  at  defiance.  This  desire  was 
not  realised,  and  the  poor  artist  died  of  heart-disease  at 
Munich  on  July  15,  1894.  (He  was  born  at  Hamburg  on 
February  19,  1848.) 

But  is  it  permissible  to  say  that  there  was  an  agree- 
ment between  these  events  and  the  prophecy  of  Robert 
Laing  ?  After  the  death  of  Piglhein  in  1894,  Carl  du  Prel 
did  not  open  the  document,  whether  it  was  because  his 
engagements  had  caused  him  to  "forget  its  existence,  or 
whether  he  had  not  thought  that  these  subsequent  events 
formed  a  realisation  of  the  prophecy.  This  was  not  the 
way  in  which  the  artist  Frosch  looked  upon  it ;  as  he  told 
me,  after  the  destruction  of  the  picture  as  Avell  as  on 
the  death  of  Piglhein,  which  happened  nine  years  after  the 
prophecy,  therefore  within  the  approximate  limit  of  ten 
years  which  was  fixed,  he  vividly  recalled  the  seer  and 
wished  to  know  if  du  Prel  had  opened  the  document 
in  order  to  set  before  the  world  the  realisation  of  this 
prophecy.  Meeting  Baron  du  Prel  in  the  street  one  day 
he  felt  impelled,  he  said,  to  speak  to  him  and  remind 
him  of  the  facts ;  but  he  did  nothing.  It  is  greatly  to 
be  regretted  that  the  prophecies  were  not  committed  to 
writing  in  1885,  as  Robert  Laing  had  asked.  If  what 
was  written  by  du  Prel,  according  to  the  statements  of 
M.  Frosch  at  the  end  of  1894,  is  compared  with  the  events 


LUCIDITY    IN   THE   FUTURE  351 

which  afterwards  occurred,  it  cannot  be  said  that  there 
is  an  absolute  realisation  of  the  prophecy,  although  there 
is  an  almost  complete  agreement  between  the  statement 
and  the  facts.  M.  Frosch  thought  that  the  destruction  of 
the  picture  was  mentioned  in  the  statement  of  the  pre- 
dictions, and  he  formally  declared  this  to  me  before  the 
document  was  opened  on  November  30th.  As  the  docu- 
ment after  being  opened  did  not  bear  out  his  statement, 
he  declared  he  was  convinced  he  had  told  the  Baron  of 
this  fact,  and  that  no  doubt  du  Prel  had  omitted  to  insert 
it  in  the  statement,  and  that  he  himself,  on  reading  it 
through  too  quickly,  had  failed  to  notice  the  omission,  as 
well  as  some  other  slight  errors. 

In  a  matter  of  verification  of  prophecies  it  is  evident 
that  the  literal  accuracy  is  necessary,  and  that  all  delay 
in  drawing  them  up,  by  which  their  freshness  is  lost,  is 
a  misfortune.  When  the  hearers  of  a  prophecy  fail  to 
write  down  immediately  what  they  have  heard  and  await 
its  realisation  in  order  to  pass  judgment  on  it,  two  possi- 
bilities are  presented  to  strict  criticism  : — 

1.  As  the  more  or  less  enigmatical  and  hidden  allusions 
concerning  a  prophesied  fact  can  only  be  cleared  up  after 
its  realisation,  the  true  meaning  of  the  prophecy  is  only 
revealed  at  that  moment,  and  the  words  which  relate  to 
it  also  only  come  to  the  memory  at  the  time  when  their 
explanation  appears  clearly  and  distinctly. 

2.  Imagination  may,  as  the  realisations  are  perceived, 
pervert  the  remembrance  unwittingly  and  unconsciously, 
and  give  to  the  original  prophecy,  by  altering  it,  however 
slightly,  a  form  which  makes  it  harmonise  exactly  with 
the  event,  as  soon  as  the  latter  presents  some  points  of 
agreement  with  the  sense  of  the  prophecy.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  that  the  artist  Frosch  did  speak  to  the  Baron  du 
Prel  of  the  predicted  destruction  of  the  picture,  because, 
if  such  had  been  the  case,  du  Prel  would  probably  not 
have  used  the  indefinite  expressions  contained  in  the 
document :  "  The  painting  will  be  finished  ;  but  something 
will  happen  in  connection  with  this  matter,  with  this 
painting,  and  that  will  be  your  loss,  Monsieur  Piglhein." 


352  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

It  would  rather  seem  that  the  exact  words  of  the 
prophet  were  not  remembered  by  Frosch,  which  would 
not  be  astonishing  after  an  interval  of  six  years  and  a  half, 
and  that  for  this  reason  he  had  given  to  the  prophecy  this 
indefinite  form,  which  did  not  completely  miss  its  true 
meaning  even  if  it  did  not  fully  express  it.  Moreover, 
M.  Frosch  in  all  sincerity  declared  himself,  at  the  end  of 
the  document,  that  he  could  not  guarantee  the  literal 
accuracy  of  the  conversations  which  took  place.  If  Laing 
had  predicted  the  destruction  of  the  picture,  such  a 
prophecy,  some  would  think,  would  have  impressed  a 
painter  destined  to  take  so  important  a  part  in  its  con- 
struction too  vividly  for  him  to  have  forgotten  it. 

This  objection  is  not  without  weight;  but  it  is  not 
final,  because  all  of  us,  as  years  go  by,  gain  this  psycho- 
logical experience,  that  even  facts  and  events  which  have 
acted  most  powerfully  on  our  mind  and  heart  disappear 
from  our  memory,  until  the  moment  perhaps  when  some 
powerful  stimulus  awakens  these  emotions  which  were 
apparently  effaced  and  brings  them  again  to  life. 

Thus  we  find  that  the  recollection  may  be  effaced  of 
psychical  facts  much  more  important  than  more  or  less 
imaginary  predictions.  If  in  reality,  at  the  moment  of 
the  drawing  up  of  the  document,  the  prediction  of  the 
destruction  of  the  picture  was  no  longer  present  to  M. 
Frosch's  memory,  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  it 
should  be  revived  in  his  mind  after  the  fire.  From  that 
the  thought  that  he  had  informed  du  Prel  of  this  prophecy 
is  only  a  step.  Be  that  as  it  may,  here  is  the  declaration 
of  M.  Karl  Frosch  as  it  was  drawn  up  by  me  in  his 
presence. 

"  M.  Karl  Hubert  Frosch,  artist,  of  Munich,  affirms 
that  he  clearly  recollects  that  Mr.  Laing  told  him  of  the 
destruction  of  the  picture,  and  that  the  account  which 
he  gave  to  Baron  du  Prel  made  mention  of  this  fact. 
He  adds  that  he,  moreover,  asked  Mr,  Laing  in  what  way 
the  picture  would  be  destroyed,  to  which  he  replied  that 
he  had  a  vision  of  it  but  had  forgotten  this  detail. 

"  The   prophet   spoke    German   well,   as   can   also   be 


LUCIDITY    IN   THE    FUTURE  355 

attested  by  M.  Boyer,  the  proprietor  of  the  hospice  at 
Jerusalem.  Karl  H.  Frosch." 

"Munich,  December  Q,  1899." 

The  shrewd  remark  added  to  the  document  by  du  Prei 
concerning  the  abstract  nature  of  the  greater  part  of  pre- 
dictions of  this  character  would  not  apply  here,  in  case 
the  seer  had  forgotten  the  vision,  as  M,  Frosch  says  in 
his  declaration,  and  had  only  announced  the  fact  of  the 
destruction.  The  artist  Josef  Krieger  has  also  personally 
given  his  testimony,  in  the  same  way  as  M.  Frosch,  accord- 
ing to  the  recollections  which  remained  with  him  : — 

"  The  artist  Joseph  Krieger  afHrms  the  following  with 
regard  to  the  prophecies  made  at  Jerusalem  in  1885,  in 
his  presence,  by  the  Scotchman,  Robert  Laing.  The  de- 
struction of  the  panorama  and  the  death  of  Piglhein  were 
prophesied  to  occur  within  a  period  of  ten  years.  Further, 
M.  Krieger  recollects  that,  according  to  the  statement  of 
the  prophet,  Piglhein  would  only  paint  the  picture  once 
whilst  M.  Frosch  would  paint  it  several  times.  He  also 
recollects  the  elegant  gesture  Piglhein  made  by  touching 
the  front  of  his  head,  indicating  that  this  gentleman  was 
not  in  his  right  mind.  He  likewise  understood  that 
Reinike,  according  to  the  prophet,  would  not  collaborate 
in  the  work.  Finally,  he  confirms  the  prediction  made 
with  regard  to  himself,  concerning  his  marriage,  which 
was  precisely  realised. 

"He  related  that  Mr.  Laing  wore  a  ring  at  which  it 
was  his  habit  to  look  when  he  wished  to  obtain  visions. 

"M.  Krieger  again  met  the  prophet  two  years  after- 
wards, when  travelling  in  Norway.  He  passed  him  in  a 
carriage  and  was  recognised  by  him,  but  no  words  were 
exchanged. 

"  M.  Krieger  did  not  hear  it  stated  that  MM.  Frosch 
and  Piglhein  would  become  mortal  enemies,  and  that 
there  would  be  a  lawsuit,  because  he  was  obliged  to  be 
absent  on  an  urgent  matter  at  the  time  when  this  was 
said.  '  Josef  Krieger." 

"Munich,  December  6,  1899." 


354  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Mme.  Nyl  Frosch  affirms  that,  according  to  the  state- 
ments which  her  husband  made  to  her,  in  the  first  place 
the  seer  had  formally  prophesied  that  both  the  picture 
and  Piglhein  would  perish.  Moreover,  what  could  be  the 
fact  "  in  relation  to  this  matter,  to  this  picture,"  which  was 
to  bring  about  the  loss  of  Piglhein  ?  Besides  the  lawsuit 
and  the  destruction  of  the  picture  itself,  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  other  possibilities.  Moreover,  another  lawsuit  of 
several  years'  duration  followed  the  burning  of  the  pano- 
rama, because  the  Austrian  insurance  company,  the  Phoenix, 
refused  to  pay  the  sum  fixed,  which  amounted  to  150,000 
marks.  They  ended  by  paying;  making  only  a  small 
deduction.  We  do  not  know  whether  in  reference  to  this 
Piglhein  had  any  difficulties  with  the  owner  of  the  picture. 

The  confirmation  of  the  prediction  relative  to  the 
destruction  of  the  panorama  would  have  had  a  very 
special  importance  as  regards  the  exact  verification  of 
Laing's  prophecies,  because  the  death  of  Piglhein,  within 
the  interval  of  ten  years  fixed  by  the  seer,  is  of  no  great 
value,  since  many  persons  die  in  a  similar  lapse  of  time. 
At  all  events,  it  is  of  importance  as  far  as  it  does  not 
contradict  the  prediction ;  therefore  it  does  not  annul  it, 
without,  however,  verifying  it. 

That  this  sudden  destruction  of  his  great  picture  must 
have  deeply  affected  the  artist,  who  was  already  suffering 
from  heart-disease,  and  might  accelerate  his  death,  is  not 
an  improbable  hypothesis.  It  is  almost  certain,  from  the 
psychological  experience  which  we  have  as  to  the  artistic 
temperament.  This  is  confirmed  by  Captain  Haider,  the 
former  proprietor  of  the  panorama,  who  wrote  me  from 
Burghausen,  near  Salzach. 

"  The  loss  of  this,  his  largest  work,  deeply  affected  him. 
When  I  sent  to  his  studio  (Landwehrstrasse,  28),  on  the 
morning  of  the  28th,  the  unfortunate  telegram,  immedi- 
ately before  my  departure  for  Vienna,  he  embraced  me, 
and  we  both  wept  like  two  children.  Then  he  said  to  me : 
'  The  wooden  pavilion  at  42  Goethestrasso  is  still  standing ; 
send  immediately  to  stop  its  demolition ;  we  will  paint 
a  new  Calvary,  and  it  will  be  better  than  the  last  one.' 


LUCIDITY   IN   THE    FUTURE  355 

He  wanted  to  do  it  for  80,000  marks  (he  had  received 
150,000  marks  for  the  first  picture).  I  made  them  stop 
the  demolition  at  once,  and  went  to  Vienna,  then  to  my 
partner,  M.  Notoff,  at  Dresden.  I  begged  him  to  contract 
for  the  new  picture,  but  he  firmly  refused." 

The  strong  desire  that  Piglhein  had  to  recommence 
his  work  proved  of  itself  what  a  blow  this  destruction  of 
his  work  had  been  to  him.  We  must  add  to  this  the  in- 
fluence of  the  irritating  lawsuit  before  the  destruction  of 
the  picture,  and  which  was  equally  "  in  relation  to  this 
matter,  to  this  picture,"  as  stated  in  the  document.  It  is 
possible  that  the  seer  may  have  used  this  exact  expression 
to  indicate  the  lawsuit  in  question,  and  that  he  had  also 
predicted  the  destruction  of  the  work. 

I  also  thought  it  my  duty  to  seek  for  the  evidence  of 
the  two  other  persons  living  at  Munich,  whose  presence 
at  Laing's  prophecies  is  indicated  in  the  document. 

(Professor)  Piglhein's  wife,  whom  I  visited  in  company 
of  Dr.  Fealk  Schupp,  Vice-president  of  the  Society  of 
Scientific  Psychology  of  Munich,  could  not  remember 
either  the  prophecy  or  the  prophet;  but  she  was  of 
opinion  that  since  MM.  Frosch  and  Krieger  guaranteed 
the  reality  of  the  fact,  she  had  no  reason  to  doubt  its 
accuracy.  She  was  certain  that  if  any  one  had  spoken  to 
her  husband  in  her  presence  of  his  approaching  death, 
he  being  very  excitable  by  reason  of  his  heart  complaint, 
she  would  have  laughed  heartily  in  order  to  efface  this 
unpleasant  impression.  The  very  remarkable  thing  is  that 
Mme.  Piglhein  is  specially  mentioned  twice  in  the  docu- 
ment as  laughing  at  the  doleful  words  of  the  prophet, 
which  is  in  favour  of  the  sincerity  of  her  present  state- 
ment as  well  as  that  of  the  document. 

The  artist  Rene  Reinike  could  not  remember  the 
prophecies,  but  he  remembered  Robert  Laing  very  well. 
He  stated  that,  young  as  he  was,  these  singular  events 
would  not  have  had  the  slightest  attraction  for  him,  and 
that  the  observations  of  Robert  Laing,  who  wished  to 
assign  to  him,  amongst  other  things,  a  previous  existence 
among  the  Arabs,  had  simply  seemed  absurd  to  him. 


356  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

In  order  to  give  greater  force  and  evidence  to  the 
preceding  events,  and  to  offer  fresh  proofs  of  the  good 
memory  of  the  artists  Frosch  and  Krieger,  I  asked  these 
gentlemen  to  Avrite  me  a  description  of  Robert  Laing,  and 
the  place  where  the  prophecy  was  made.  M.  Karl  Frosch 
very  willingly  consented.  As  to  the  appearance  of  the 
seer,  he  wrote  with  great  sincerity :  "  I  only  recall  that  he 
was  of  medium  height,  with  greyish  hair,  with  a  sharp 
look,  and  as  he  walked  he  bent  his  body  slightly  forward." 

As  M.  Frosch  was  specially  engaged  upon  decorative 
painting,  he  was  able,  with  a  sure  hand,  to  draw  a  sketch 
of  the  dining-room,  of  antique  aspect,  Avith  a  wide  and 
high- vaulted  roof,  of  the  hospice,  which  was  once  one  of 
the  residences  of  the  Templars. 

The  artist  Krieger,  although  he  was  quite  willing  to 
accede  to  my  request,  has  not  yet  been  able  to  do  so,  as 
he  was  suddenly  called  away  to  a  distance. 

Lastly,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Laing  at  Christchurch,  New 
Zealand,  asking  him  to  give  me  his  evidence  should  he 
be  the  same  person  as  Robert  Laing.  I  told  him  nothing 
as  to  the  events  which  had  occurred  and  to  which  the 
prophecies  related,  nor  as  to  the  tenor  of  these  pro- 
phecies; I  merely  asked  him  to  let  me  know  what  he 
still  remembered  of  the  predictions  he  had  made.  Al- 
though seers  quickly  forget  the  visions  they  have  had,  it 
is  permissible  to  think  that  Robert  Laing  would  at  least 
have  partly  preserved  the  recollection,  if  not  of  his 
visions  at  that  time,  at  least  of  the  statements  ho  had 
made  to  those  concerned.  As  soon  as  I  receive  a  reply 
I  shall  at  once  publish  it. 

For  the  explanation  of  this  prevision  of  the  future,  we 
may  profitably  consult  the  profound  considerations  on  this 
subject  in  the  second  volume  of  du  Prel's  work  on  the  Dis- 
covery of  tJie  Soul  (Leipzig,  lo85).  With  regard  to  the  part 
the  Brahmin's  ring  played  m  the  visions,  Ave  may  consider 
that  to  be  purely  auto-suggestive.  The  above-mentioned 
case  does  not  unfortunately  present  the  absolute  eviden- 
tial guarantees  required  for  a  purely  critical  examination. 
Nevertheless,  the  knoAvledge   and   the   discussion  of  the 


LUCIDITY    IN   THE   FUTURE  357 

events  that  are  reported  seem  to  us  calculated  to  awaken 
the  interest  which  the  study  of  so  delicate  a  problem  as 
prophecy  deserves,  and  we  may  learn  from  it  that  all 
statements  in  reference  to  such  matters  ought  to  be 
drawn  up  at  the  proper  time  and  with  scrupulous 
accuracy.  Dr.  W.  Bormann.^ 

After  having  studied  this  very  curious  and  well  attested 
case  of  lucidity,  wishing  to  have  some  more  precise  in- 
formation as  to  the  personality  of  the  subject  himself, 
and  hoping  to  obtain  from  him  some  new  experiences, 
I  asked  one  of  the  English  correspondents  of  the  Societe 
Universelle  d'Etudes  Psychiques  to  find  Robert  Laing 
and  put  me  into  communication  with  him.  The  following 
are  the  particulars  I  received  of  this  person  who  is  endowed 
with  so  strange  a  faculty ; — 

R.  L.  is  a  most  curious  person.  He  is  sixty-two  years 
of  age,  and  a  bachelor.  He  was  shut  up  for  some  years  as 
a  madman,  and  willingly  speaks  of  what  he  saw  and  the 
tricks  he  played  while  he  was  in  the  asylum. 

He  has  changed  his  name,  has  travelled  considerably ; 
has  resided  for  a  number  of  years  in  the  East,  lived 
amongst  the  Brahmins,  the  Moravian  Brothers,  in  monas- 
teries, in  German  universities,  in  the  Latin  quarter,  &c. 
He  attaches  great  importance  to  numbers,  letters,  forms, 
and  colours  :  where  we  simply  speak  of  a  coincidence,  he 
sees  an  allegory. 

He  has  read  much  of  Rabbinical  and  Jewish  writings. 
He  has  not  only  the  head  of  the  Wandering  Jew — bald 
head  and  long  white  beard — but  also,  he  states  that  he 
has  Jewish  blood  in  his  veins.  He  claims  to  have  had,  at 
certain  times  in  his  life,  the  recollection,  the  clear  vision 
of  his  previous  incarnations,  except,  he  says,  for  one  link 
which  is  missing  in  the  seventeenth  century.  He  also 
believes  that  he  profits  by  the  experience  and  knowledge 
he  gained  during  his  previous  existences. 

He  possesses  a  very  fine  collection  of  rings,  seals, 
mysterious  emblems,  monograms,  &c. 

1  Extract  from  Psych.  Stuclien,  April  and  May  1900. 


358  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

When  he  drinks  wine  he  puts  an  enormous  ring  at  the 
bottom  of  his  glass. 

This  gentleman,  who  has  read  all  the  mystics,  has  a 
horror  of  prearranged  and  scientifically  conducted  experi- 
ments. He  therefore  refuses,  as  he  says  he  has  always 
done  with  Myers  and  others,  to  furnish  material  proofs 
of  the  Beyond  and  of  the  mysterious  powers  which  have 
sometimes  acted  in  him,  and  which  he  declares  he  cannot 
explain,  although  he  has  left  a  confession  which  is  not  to 
be  opened  until  twenty  years  after  his  death. 

Passive  expectancy  is  his  usual  attitude,  and  he  has  no 
wish  to  act  with  a  view  to  forcmg  his  powers  or  the  forces 
latent  in  him  :  when  he  feels  himself  in  intimate  communion 
with  the  universal  mind,  he  sees  himself  an  instrument,  a 
witness  of  the  UnknoAvn.  All  that  he  has  ever  been  able 
to  do  in  the  way  of  reading  the  past,  predicting  the  future, 
&c.,  belongs  to  the  domain  of  spiritualism  and  not  of 
science.  He  speaks  of  finding  himself  on  another  plane 
of  inquiry  and  perception,  almost  in  another  condition  of 
existence,  with  which  scientific  methods  have  nothing  to 
do,  and  in  fact  it  is  only  by  the  voice  of  his  intuitions 
that  he  claims  to  walk  towards  the  truth,  the  ultimate 
reality. 

Such  is  the  person  whose  expressions  I  have  respected. 
He  seems  to  have  a  strange  mixture  of  Oriental,  Jewish, 
primitive,  animistic,  and  rationalistic  Christian  opinions 
and  doctrines. 

You,  like  myself,  will  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able 
to  obtain  from  him  any  decisive  experience. 

V.  Leuliette, 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  SocidU  Universelle 

d'Miides  Psychiques. 

Our  correspondent's  report  is  very  complete,  as  will  be 
seen,  and  gives  a  very  clear  idea  of  this  strange  person- 
ality. It  is,  after  all,  mysticism  which  dominates,  whether 
it  be  all  sincere  or  mixed  with  a  certain  stage  effect,  as  is 
quite  possible. 

The  most  resrrettable  fact  is  that  we  arc  not  able  to 


LUCIDITY   IN   THE    i'UTURE  359 

produce  any  new  experiments  in  conditions  we  could  our- 
selves arrange.  But  we  have  other  subjects  possessing 
this  faculty  of  lucidity  in  regard  to  the  future,  with  whom 
we  propose  to  arrange  some  methodical  experiments.  This 
question  is  therefore  left  for  study,  and  we  may  expect 
definite  results  from  strictly  scientific  experiments. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE   INVISIBLE   OR  OF   THOUGHT 

In  a  study  such  as  we  are  making  it  is  impossible  not  to 
notice  the  photographs  of  thought.  Is  thought  capable  in 
any  manner  Avhatever  of  impressing  a  photographic  plate  ? 

This  question  has  already  been  debated  and  a  certain 
number  of  experiments  made.  Unfortunately,  nearly  all 
these  experiments  left  something  to  be  desired  on  some 
point,  so  that  it  must  be  said  that,  at  the  present  time,  we 
have  no  sufficiently  certain  scientific  documents  on  this 
question.  The  reader  must  please  to  remember  that  we 
still  make  great  reservations  as  to  this  phenomenon,  and 
we  leave  to  the  authors,  whom  we  mention  in  this  chapter, 
all  the  responsibility  for  the  facts  they  put  forward. 
Numerous  experiments  are  still  in  progress,  and  the  near 
future  may  witness  the  transformation  into  certainty  of 
that  which  is  now  only  hypothetical. 

Let  no  one  be  astonished,  in  the  first  place,  at  the 
difficulty  experienced  in  definitely  describing  this  point 
either  negatively  or  affirmatively.  We  have  already  made 
a  number  of  experiments  which  have  given  no  result,  and 
Ave  have  not  been  able  to  draw  any  conclusion  from  them. 

We  know  well  that  certain  scientific  inquirers  have 
endeavoured  to  verify  for  themselves  levitation  pheno- 
mena, for  example ;  and  that  not  being  able  to  get  them 
produced  in  their  presence  have  immediately  come  to  the 
conclusion  and  stated  that  these  phenomena  do  not  exist, 
that  in  short  they  are  impossible.  It  has  not  been  our 
custom  to  reason  in  this  manner ;  therefore,  if  we  have  not 
what  some  persons  would  consider  the  advantage  of  affirm- 
ing or  denying  so  rapidly,  we  shall  not  suffer  in  the  future 

3C0 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE   INVISIBLE       361 

from  the  denials  which  serve  to  prove  the  imprudence 
of  these  hasty  and  dogmatic  conclusions. 

We  also  know  very  well  that  if  it  is  possible  for  thought 
to  impress  a  photographic  plate  and  imprint  a  picture  on 
it,  we  are  entirely  ignorant  of  the  conditions  necessary  for 
this  to  happen ;  and,  to  specify  some  of  the  possible  con- 
ditions that  we  can  imagine,  we  do  not  know  whether  or 
not  the  plate  ought  to  be  placed  in  a  camera,  as  is  done 
when  photographing  an  ordinary  object.  We  do  not 
know  whether,  instead  of  the  dark  camera,  which  enables 
us  in  ordinary  photography  to  receive  the  images  on  the 
plate,  there  is  not  some  quite  different  apparatus  which 
would  enable  it  to  receive  the  pictures  emitted  by  our 
thoughts. 

But  let  us  suppose  the  most  simple  case,  that  is 
to  say,  that  an  image  invisible  to  our  retina,  projected 
by  thought  into  space,  can,  by  means  of  an  ordinary 
apparatus,  impress  a  photographic  plate.  We  do  not  yet 
know  how  to  focus  this  picture,  or  what  exposure  to  give. 

Let  us  suppose  that  an  excellent  apparatus  and  some 
good  photographic  plates  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
man  who  has  never  seen  a  photograph  taken,  and  who  is 
entirely  ignorant  how  to  illuminate  the  object  to  be  photo- 
graphed, how  it  can  be  brought  to  a  focus,  how  to  develop, 
&c. ;  with  time  and  patience  he  will  probably  be  able  some 
day  to  take  good  photographs,  because  it  is  in  this  way 
that  the  photographic  art  has  been  created ;  but  before 
that  he  must  certainly  try  a  multitude  of  experiments,  in 
which  he  will  have  fogged  plates,  plates  without  an  im- 
pression, &c.  And  in  the  course  of  these  experiments,  if 
he  sees  some  photograph  obtained  by  a  better  operator, 
he  will  not  have  the  right  to  deny  its  authenticity  and  to 
say  that  it  is  impossible  to  photograph,  but  he  "wdll  only 
be  able  to  say  with  truth  that  he  does  not  yet  loiow  how 
to  set  about  it. 

On  going  a  little  further  into  the  numerous  details 
which  constitute  the  art  of  photography,  and  supposing 
it  possible  to  photograph  thought,  we  know  nothing  as  to 
the  preparation  of  the  plates,  which  may  be  very  different 


362  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

from  ordinary  plates,  or  as  to  the  chemicals  to  be  em- 
ployed, &e. 

It  would  be  puerile  to  object  that,  if  we  need  special 
and  new  apparatus,  processes,,  and  chemicals,  it  would  no 
longer  be  photography. 

Radiography  is  not  true  photography ;  and  how  long  a 
time  has  elapsed  since  the  origin  of  photography  before 
the  means  were  found  for  photographing  through  opaque 
bodies.  Every  one  knows  that  we  may  set  up  the  most 
perfect  photographic  apparatus,  or  arrange  the  most  sensi- 
tive plates  in  front  of  a  wooden  box  in  any  manner  we 
please,  but  we  shall  never  be  able  to  photograph  the 
objects  enclosed  in  it  if  we  have  not  an  X-ray  apparatus. 
Who,  therefore,  can  state  that  there  does  not  exist  some 
process  capable  of  imprinting  on  a  sensitive  plate  pictures 
which  are  invisible  to  our  retina  ?  There  is  nothing  absurd 
in  this,  and  those  who  do  not  wish  to  apply  themselves 
to  it  cannot,  without  making  themselves  supremely  ridi- 
culous, blame  or  deride  others  for  such  researches. 

This  being  so,  let  us  see  what  photographs  of  thought 
have  been  obtained  according  to  the  experiments  which 
have  been  made  up  to  now. 

In  a  recent  essay  Colonel  de  Rochas  quoted  from  a 
lecture  given  on  this  subject  by  Mr.  J.  Traill  Taylor;  we 
will  give  some  extracts  from  this  document. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  a  man  very  well  known  on  the  other 
side  of  the  channel,  both  as  a  savant  and  a  photographer ; 
he  was  the  author  of  several  works  dealing  with  the 
physical  and  chemical  knowledge  necessary  for  the 
rational  practice  of  his  art ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Photographic  Society  of  Great  Britain, 
and  editor  of  the  British  Journal  of  Photography.  It  was 
after  some  seances  which  were  held  in  April  and  May 
1892  in  Glasgow  with  a  well-known  medium,  Mr.  David 
Duguid,  in  which  photographs  were  obtained  of  objects 
not  visible  to  the  spectators,  that  Frederic  Myers,  the 
eminent  author  of  Human  Personality,  asked  Mr.  Taylor 
to  try  to  reproduce  these  extraordinary  phenomena  in 
London   with    Mr.   Duguid,    taking    the    necessary    pre- 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       363 

cautions    to    avoid    all    cause     of    error,    voluntary    or 
involuntary. 

"  The  presence  of  smoke  "  (wrote  Mr.  Taylor)  "  may  be 
considered  as  implying  the  existence  of  flame.  Spirit 
photography,  so  called,  has  of  late  been  asserting  its  exist- 
ence in  such  a  manner  as  to  warrant  competent  men 
making  an  investigation,  conducted  under  stringent  test 
conditions,  into  the  circumstances  under  which  such 
photographs  are  produced  and  exposing  the  fraud,  should 
it  prove  to  be  such,  instead  of  pooh-poohing  it  as  insensate 
because  we  do  not  understand  how  it  can  be  otherwise — a 
position  that  scarcely  commends  itself  as  intelligent  or 
philosophical.  If  in  what  follows  I  call  it  spirit  photo- 
graphy instead  of  psychic  photography,  it  is  only  in  defer- 
ence to  a  nomenclature  that  extensively  prevails,  and  not 
as  offering  a  surmise  from  any  knowledge  of  my  own  as  to 
what  is  matter  and  what  spirit,  or  the  distinction  between 
mind,  spirit,  and  matter,  for  in  truth  I  do  not  know.  I 
approach  the  subject  merely  as  a  photographer. 

"  Before  I  proceed,  a  few  words  on  the  origin  of  spirit 
photography  may  not  be  out  of  place.  In  March  1861, 
W.  H.  Mumler,  the  principal  engraver  in  the  employ  of 
Bigelow  Bros.  &  Kennard,  the  leading  jewellers  of  Boston, 
when  whiling  away  an  idle  hour  as  an  amateur  photo- 
grapher, had  a  form  other  than  that  of  any  one  present 
developed  on  his  collodion  plate.  He  surmised  that  it 
arose  from  an  image  having  been  previously  on  the  plate, 
and  its  having  been  imperfectly  cleaned  off.  Subjected  to 
a  more  thorough  cleaning,  the  form  again  appeared  more 
strongly  marked  than  before,  and  he  could  offer  no  other 
explanation  than  the  one  given.  It  got  noised  abroad 
through  the  press  that  a  spirit  had  been  photographed, 
and  although  Mumler  strove  to  suppress  the  misrepre- 
sentation, as  he  regarded  it,  yet  he  eventually  succumbed 
to  popular  demand,  and  took  two  hours  a  day  from  his 
regular  work,  devoting  them  to  photography  This  he 
had  to  extend  to  the  whole  of  each  day,  entirely  discard- 
ing his  regular  profession.  Many  men  of  eminence  sat  to 
him,  most  of  whom  he  did  not  know  at  the  time.     He 


364  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

seems  to  have  encouraged  his  sitters  in  the  adoption  of 
such  test  conditions  as  they  deemed  satisfactory.  The 
figures  that  usually  appeared  on  the  plate  with  the  sitters 
were,  if  I  rightly  infer,  those  on  whom  the  sitters'  minds 
had  been  set.  That  eminent  portrait  photographer,  Mr. 
Wm.  Black,  of  Boston,  so  well  known  all  over  the  world 
as  the  inventor  of  the  acid  nitrate  bath,  undertook  to 
investigate  the  bona  fides  of  Mumler's  methods.  Through 
a  friend  who  had  just  previously  sat  and  obtained  a  figure, 
Black  offered  fifty  dollars  if  Mumler  would  operate  in  his 
presence  and  obtain  a  picture.  Invited  to  come,  the  acute 
Black  critically  examined  camera,  plate,  dipper,  and  bath, 
and  had  his  eye  on  the  plate  from  the  moment  its  prepara- 
tion began  until  it  was  sensitised  and  locked  in  the  dark 
slide,  removing  it  himself  from  the  camera  and  carrying  it 
into  the  dark  room,  where,  on  development,  a  figure  of  a 
man  was  seen  leaning  on  B.'s  shoulder.  Black  was  thunder- 
struck, and  got  away  the  negative,  no  charge  whatever 
having  been  made.  Mumler  now  claimed  publicly  to  be 
a  spirit-portrait  photographer,  and  as  such  he  eventually 
opened  a  studio  in  New  York,  having  previously  satisfied 
Silver,  Gurney,  and  other  photographers  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness of  his  claims,  never  hesitating  to  operate  in  their 
galleries  if  required,  and  with  their  apparatus  and  chemi- 
cals. Mumler  was  arrested  in  New  York ;  whether  on  the 
ground  of  witchcraft  or  of  endeavouring  to  obtain  money 
under  false  pretences,  I  am  at  present  uncertain,  but  his 
trial  was  the  sensation  of  the  day,  and  numerous  witnesses 
were  examined.     He  was  honourably  acquitted. 

"  In  this  country,  a  number  of  amateur  photographers 
have  investigated  this  subject  with  more  or  less  success. 
These  include  some  F.R.S.'s,  scientists,  artists,  and 
others.  I  question  whether  any  have  so  persistently 
done  so  as  the  late  Mr.  John  Beattie,  of  Clifton,  and 
his  friend  Dr.  Thompson.  Mr.  Beattie  was  a  skilled  pro- 
fessional photographer  of  the  highest  eminence  who, 
some  time  prior  to  his  death,  had  adopted  the  views  of 
the  spiritualistic  school.  The  figures  he  obtained  on  his 
plates  were  much  blurred  in  outline,  some  being  misty  in 


riiOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       365 

the  extreme.  I  possess  some  two  or  three  dozen  of  these, 
taken  by,  or  in  the  presence  of,  Mr.  Beattie,  whose  intelH- 
gence,  honesty,  and  powers  of  observation  no  one  would 
venture  to  doubt.  Many  such  photographs  are  claimed 
to  have  been  produced  by  Hudson,  a  professional  photo- 
grapher, formerly  of  the  Holloway  Road,  and  I  submit  for 
examination  a  work  by  the  late  Miss  Houghton,  containing 
fifty-four  of  Hudson's  spirit  photographs. 

"  There  are  many  ways  by  which,  assuming  the  genuine- 
ness of  only  one  of  all  spirit  photographs  hitherto  pro- 
duced, the  spurious  article  may  be  made  even  better  than 
any  alleged  real  ones  I  have  yet  seen.  A  plate  secretly 
impressed  previous  or  subsequent  to  being  placed  in  the 
camera  fulfils  the  condition ;  so  does  one  at  the  back  of 
which  is  placed  a  phosphorescent  tablet  in  the  dark  slide. 
Pressure  on  the  surface,  such  as  that  of  a  Woodbury 
relief  film,  also  causes  an  image  susceptible  of  develop- 
ment ;  in  short,  trickery  in  a  whole  variety  of  forms  may, 
and  has  been,  impressed  into  the  service. 

"  The  higher  department  of  fluorescence  may  with  suc- 
cess be  employed.  Here  is  something  to  which  believers 
in  the  visibility  of  spirit  forms  to  a  camera  are  quite 
welcome.  At  the  time,  and  a  projios  of  the  Mulmer  trial 
in  New  York,  I  wrote  that  a  good  many  absurd  things 
have  been  said  -pro  and  con  on  the  subject ;  but  a  writer 
in  the  latter  category,  who  asserted  that  anything  that  is 
visible  to  the  eye  of  the  camera,  and  thus  capable  of  being 
depicted  by  photography,  must  therefore  necessarily  be 
visible  to  the  human  eye,  was  surely  ignorant  of  that  im- 
portant branch  of  physics  popularly  known  as  fluorescence. 
Many  things  are  capable  of  being  photographed  which  to 
the  physical  eye  are  utterly  invisible.  Why,  for  that 
matter,  a  room  (visually  dark)  may  be  full  of  the  ultra- 
violet rays  of  the  spectrum,  and  a  photograph  may  be 
taken  in  that  dark  light.  Objects  in  a  room  so  lighted 
would  be  plainly  visible  to  the  lens  of  the  camera — at 
any  rate,  they  could  be  reproduced  on  the  sensitive  plate, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  not  an  atom  of  luminousness 
could  be  perceived  in  the  room  by  any  person  possessing 


366  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

ordinary  or  normal  vision.  Hence  the  photographing  of 
an  invisible  image,  whether  it  be  of  a  spirit  or  a  lump  of 
matter,  is  not  scientifically  impossible.  If  it  reflect  only 
the  ultra-violet  rays  of  the  spectrum  it  will  be  easily 
photographed,  although  quite  invisible  to  the  sharpest 
eye. 

"  Again,  Cromwell  F.  Varley,  F.R.S.,  well  known  as 
one  of  the  most  eminent  of  electricians,  says  (Electricity, 
June  1871),  when  passing  a  current  of  electricity  through 
a  vacuum  tube,  the  results  of  which  were  indicated  by 
touches  of  light  about  the  poles  : — In  one  instance,  although 
the  experiment  was  carried  on  in  a  dark  room,  this  light 
was  so  feeble  that  it  could  not  be  seen,  and  the  operators 
doubted  if  the  current  were  passing.  But  photography 
was  at  work,  and  in  thirty  minutes  a  very  good  picture 
was  produced  of  what  had  taken  place.  This,  he  says,  is 
a  remarkable  fact;  indeed,  it  borders  on  the  wonderful, 
that  a  phenomenon  invisible  to  the  human  eye  should 
have  been,  so  to  speak,  seen  by  the  photographic  lens, 
and  a  record  of  it  kept  by  chemical  agency.  It  is  highly 
suggestive,  and  we  may  anticipate  that  it  will  be  turned 
to  good  account  by  practical  philosophers. 

"  Some  very  striking  phenomena  in  photographing  the 
invisible  may  be  produced  by  the  agency  of  fluorescence. 
Figures  depicted  upon  a  background  by  one  or  other  of 
certain  substances  I  shall  presently  name,  although  in- 
visible to  the  eye,  may  become  visible  to  the  camera. 
Of  these  the  best  known,  although  not  the  most  eflective, 
is  bisulphate^of  quinine.  Such  a  solution,  although  to 
the  eye  it  is  colourless  like  water,  is  to  the  camera  as 
black  as  ink.  Fill  three  phials  respectively  with  water, 
quinine,  and  common  writing-ink,  and  you  have  two 
whites  and  one  black,  but  photograph  them,  and  you 
have  two  blacks  and  one  white.  The  camera  has  reduced 
the  transparent  quinine  solution  to  the  colour  of  the 
ink.  Those  of  you  who  may  care  to  experiment  in  this 
direction,  please  take  notice  that  the  quinine  must  be 
acidulated  with  sulphuric  acid,  and  that  hydrochloric 
acid,   even    a   small    trace,    will    destroy   this    property. 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE   INVISHJLK       367 

Among  other  substances  that  aro  fluorescent,  or  that 
change  the  ret'rangibility  of  rays  of  light,  are  mineral 
uranitc,  certain  salts  of  uranium,  canary  glass,  alcoholic 
solution  of  chlorophyll,  aesculine,  tincture  of  stramonium 
seeds,  and  of  turmeric.  There  are  others  known  to  be 
still  better,  but  my  experiments  in  this  direction  are  yet 
too  incomplete  to  warrant  my  even  indicating  them. 

"  Let  me  for  a  moment  enter  the  realm  of  speculation, 
and  assume  that  there  are  really  spirits  invisible  to  the 
eye,  but  visible  to  the  camera  and  to  certain  persons 
called  seers  or  clairvoyants  only.  Might  we  not  suggest 
that  there  is  some  fluorescent  compound  in  the  eyes  of 
such  persons  not  present  in  those  whose  eyes  are  normal, 
and  that  it  is  to  this  they  owe  their  seeing  powers  ?  Some 
of  you  may  probably  be  aware  that  Dr.  Bence  Jones  and 
other  philosophers  have  actually  established  the  fact  of 
such  fluorescent  substances  being  found  in  some  eyes. 
May  not  this  throw  some  light  upon  the  recognised  fact 
of  certain  animals  being  able  to  see  in  the  dark  ? 

"  When  the  subject  of  fluorescence  is  more  thoroughly 
investigated  (it  is  a  discovery  of  Sir  D.  Brewster,  who  was 
followed  by  Herschel  and  Professor  Stokes,  and  is  as  yet 
but  of  yesterday),  we  may  hope  for  a  vast  accession  to  our 
knowledge  of  subjects  as  yet  very  slightly  understood. 

"  At  the  Bradford  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  in  1873,  Dr.  Gladstone,  F.R.S,, 
demonstrated  before  the  Mathematical  and  Physical  Sec- 
tion what  I  have  said  respecting  invisible  drawings  on 
white  cards  having  produced  bold  and  clear  photographs 
when  no  eye  could  see  the  drawings  themselves.  I  myself 
brought  back  to  London  these  photographs,  and,  for  ought 
I  know,  may  have  them  still." 

It  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Taylor  is  well  informed  as  to 
the  way  in  which  photographs  can  be  faked.  This  forms 
in  our  eyes  a  certain  guarantee  with  regard  to  the  experi- 
ments he  has  himself  made,  since  he  could  detect  simula- 
tion better  than  any  one  else.     Mr.  Taylor  continues : — 

"  For  several  years  I  have  experienced  a  strong  desire 
to  ascertain  by  personal  investigation  the  amount  of  truth 


368  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

in  the  ever-recurring  allegation  that  figures  other  than 
those  visually  present  in  the  room  appeared  on  a  sensitive 
plate.  The  difficulty  was  to  get  hold  of  a  suitable  person 
known  as  a  sensitive  or  '  medium.'  What  a  medium  is, 
or  how  physically  or  mentally  constituted  to  be  different 
from  other  mortals,  I  am  unable  to  say.  He  or  she  may 
not  be  a  photographer,  but  must  be  present  on  each 
occasion  of  trial.  Some  may  be  mediums  without  their 
being  aware  of  it.  Like  the  chemical  principle  known 
as  catalysis,  they  merely  act  by  their  presence.  Such  a 
one  is  Mr.  D.  of  Glasgow,  in  whose  presence  psychic  photo- 
graphs have  long  been  alleged  to  be  obtained.  He  was 
lately  in  London  on  a  visit,  and  a  mutual  friend  got  him 
to  consent  to  extend  his  stay  in  order  that  I  might  try 
to  get  a  psychic  photograph  under  test  conditions.  To 
this  he  willingly  agreed.  My  conditions  were  exceedingly 
simple,  were  courteously  expressed  to  the  host,  and  entirely 
acquiesced  in.  They  were,  that  I  for  the  nonce  would 
assume  them  all  to  be  tricksters,  and,  to  guard  against 
fraud,  should  use  my  own  camera  and  unopened  packages 
of  dry  plates  purchased  from  dealers  of  repute,  and  that 
I  should  be  excused  from  allowing  a  plate  to  go  out  of 
my  own  hand  till  after  development,  unless  I  felt  other- 
wise disposed ;  but  that,  as  I  was  to  treat  them  as  under 
suspicion,  so  must  they  treat  me,  and  that  every  act  I 
performed  must  be  in  presence  of  two  witnesses,  nay,  that 
I  would  set  a  watch  upon  my  own  camera  in  the  guise  of 
a  duplicate  one  of  the  same  focus — in  other  words,  I  would 
use  a  binocular  stereoscopic  camera  and  dictate  all  the 
conditions  of  operation.  All  this  I  was  told  was  what 
they  very  strongly  wished  me  to  do,  as  they  desired  to 
know  the  truth  and  that  only.  There  were  present,  during 
one  or  other  of  the  evenings  when  the  trials  were  made, 
representatives  of  various  schools  of  thought,  including 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England ;  a  practitioner  of 
the  healing  art  who  is  a  Fellow  of  two  learned  societies ;  a 
gentleman  who  graduated  in  the  Hall  of  Science  in  the 
days  of  the  late  Charles  Bradhmgh ;  two  extremely  hard- 
headed   Glasgow   merchants,  gentlemen    of    commercial 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF  THE   INVISIBLE       369 

eminence  and  probity;  our  host,  his  wife,  the  medium, 
and  myself.  Dr.  G.  was  the  first  sitter,  and,  for  a  reason 
known  to  myself,  I  used  a  monocular  camera.  I  myself 
took  the  plate  out  of  a  packet  just  previously  ripped  up 
under  the  surveillance  of  my  two  detectives.  I  placed 
the  slide  in  my  pocket,  and  exposed  it  by  magnesium 
ribbon  which  I  held  in  my  own  hand,  keeping  one  eye, 
as  it  were,  on  the  sitter  and  the  other  on  the  camera. 
There  was  no  background.  I  myself  took  the  plate  from 
the  dark  slide,  and  under  the  eyes  of  the  two  detectives 
placed  it  in  the  developing  dish.  Between  the  camera 
and  the  sitter  a  female  figure  was  developed,  rather  in  a 
more  pronounced  form  than  that  of  the  sitter.  The  lens 
was  a  portrait  one  of  short  focus ;  the  figure  being  some- 
what in  front  of  the  sitter  was  proportionately  larger  in 
dimensions,  and  was  that  of  a  lady,  I  did  not  recognise 
her  or  any  of  the  other  figures  I  obtained  as  being  like 
any  one  I  knew. 

"  Many  experiments  of  like  nature  followed ;  on  some 
plates  were  abnormal  appearances,  on  others  none.  All 
this  time  Mr.  D.,  the  medium,  during  the  exposure  of  the 
plates,  was  quite  inactive.  After  one  trial,  which  had 
proved  successful,  I  asked  him  how  he  felt  and  what  he 
had  been  thinking  of  during  the  exposure.  He  replied 
that  his  thoughts  had  been  mainly  concentrated  upon  his 
chances  of  securing  a  corner-seat  in  a  smoking-carriage 
that  night  from  Euston  to  Glasgow. 

"  If  the  precautions  I  took  during  all  of  the  several 
experiments,  such  as  those  recorded,  are  by  any  of  you 
thought  to  have  been  imperfect  or  incomplete,  I  pray  of 
you  to  point  them  out.  In  some  of  them  I  relaxed  my 
conditions  to  the  extent  of  getting  one  of  those  present  to 
lift  out  from  the  dark  slide  the  exposed  plate  and  transfer 
it  to  the  developing  dish  held  by  myself,  or  to  lift  a  plate 
from  the  manufacturer's  package  into  the  dark  slide  held 
in  my  own  hand,  this  being  done  under  my  own  eye, 
which  was  upon  it  all  the  time ;  but  this  did  not  seem  to 
interfere  with  the  general  working  of  the  experiments. 

"The  psychic  figures  behaved  badly.     Some  were  in 

2  a 


370  PSYCHICAL    PHENOMENA 

focus,  others  not  so;  some  were  lighted  from  the  right, 
while  the  sitter  was  so  from  the  left ;  some  were  comely, 
as  the  dame  I  shall  show  on  the  screen,  others  not  so ; 
some  monopolised  the  major  portion  of  the  plate,  quite 
obliterating  the  material  sitters;  others  were  as  if  an 
atrociously  badly  vignetted  portrait,  or  one  cut  oval  out  of 
a  photograph  by  a  can-opener,  or  equally  badly  clipped 
out,  were  held  up  behind  the  sitter.  But  here  is  the 
point — not  one  of  these  figures  which  came  out  so  strongly 
in  the  negative  was  visible  in  any  form  or  shape  to  me 
during  the  time  of  exposure  in  the  camera,  and  I  vouch  in 
the  strongest  manner  for  the  fact  that  no  one  whatever 
had  an  opportunity  of  tampering  with  any  plate  anterior 
to  its  bemg  placed  in  the  dark  slide  or  immediately 
preceding  development.  Pictorially  they  are  vile,  but  how 
came  they  there  ? 

"  Now,  all  this  time  I  imagine  you  are  wondering  how 
the  stereoscopic  camera  was  behaving  itself  as  such.  It  is 
due  to  the  psychic  entities  to  say  that  whatever  was 
produced  on  one  half  of  the  stereoscopic  plates  Avas 
reproduced  on  the  other,  alike  good  or  bad  in  definition. 
But  on  a  careful  examination  of  one  which  was  rather 
better  than  another,  I  deduce  this  fact,  that  the  impressing 
of  the  spirit  form  was  not  consentaneous  with  that  of  the 
sitter.  This  I  consider  an  important  discovery.  I  care- 
fully examined  one  in  the  stereoscope,  and  found  that, 
while  the  two  sitters  were  stereoscopic  per  se,  the  psychic 
figure  was  absolutely  flat.  I  also  found  that  the  psychic 
figure  was  at  least  a  millimetre  higher  up  in  one  than  the 
other.  Now,  as  both  had  been  simultaneously  exposed,  it 
follows  to  demonstration  that  although  both  were  correctly 
placed  vertically  in  relation  to  the  particular  sitter  behind 
whom  the  figure  appeared,  and  not  so  horizontally,  this 
figure  had  not  only  not  been  impressed  on  the  plate  simul- 
taneously with  the  two  gentlemen  forming  the  group,  but 
had  not  been  formed  by  the  lens  at  all,  and  that  therefore 
the  psychic  image  might  be  produced  without  a  camera. 
I  think  this  is  a  fair  deduction.  But  still  the  question 
presents  itself.  How  camo  these  figures  there  ?     I  again 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       371 

assert  that  the  plates  were  not  tampered  with  by  either 
myself  or  any  one  present.  Are  they  crystallisations  of 
thought  ?  Have  lens  and  light  really  nothing  to  do  with 
their  formation  ?  The  whole  subject  was  mysterious 
enough  on  the  hypothesis  of  an  invisible  spirit,  whether  a 
thought  projection  or  an  actual  spirit,  being  really  there 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  sitter,  but  it  is  now  a  thousand  times 
more  so." 

Let  us  remark  first  of  all  that  there  are  two  entirely 
different  kinds  of  photographs  which  experimenters 
have  called  thought-photographs.  The  first  only  shows 
spots,  lines,  whirling  clouds,  more  or  less  formless;  the 
other,  on  the  contrary,  represents  an  object  of  a  definite 
form. 

The  first  scarcely  interests  us  at  all,  because  it  does 
not  come  within  the  compass  of  what  we  are  studying 
here.  Nevertheless,  in  order  to  be  complete,  we  ought  to 
say  a  few  words,  leaving  the  authors  we  shall  quote  to 
bear  the  full  responsibility  of  their  statements. 

It  is  said  that  photographs  have  been  obtained  of  the 
eftluvia  emanating  from  a  magnetic  bar,  and  even  pictures 
of  the  aureoles  surrounding  fingers  placed  on  a  sensitive 
plate  in  the  developing  bath;  also  aureoles  surrounding 
freshly  cut  leaves. 

In  these  cases  there  may  be  produced  some  kind  of 
magnetic  effiuvia,  which  leave  a  trace  on  the  plate. 
This  would,  however,  have  nothing  to  do  with  thought- 
photography. 

But  even  on  this  supposition  there  would  still  be 
causes  of  error  to  eliminate.  In  the  case,  for  example,  of 
impressions  of  fingers,  can  it  not  be  supposed  that  the  heat 
from  the  fingers,  or  the  chemical  action  of  the  skin,  which 
always  gives  off  a  perspiration,  imperceptible  though  it 
may  be,  would  be  capable  of  acting  on  the  developing 
bath,  or  on  the  plate  itself,  and  that  what  we  see  may  be 
only  the  traces  of  chemical  decomposition  ? 

The  following  is  the  report  of  some  experiments  made 
by   M.   Albert   Jounet,   a   very   competent    experimenter 


372  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

whose  prudence  and  scientific  spirit  in  research  are  well 
known  to  us. 


Effluvia  of  the  Oaze 

"  First  of  all  I  tried  (by  the  process  employed  by 
Dr.  Luys)  to  obtain  the  photograph  of  the  effluvia  from 
the  eye  on  a  sensitive  dry  plate,  impressed  as  in  ordinary 
photography  before  being  immersed  in  the  developer. 
Several  attempts  were  unsuccessful,  because  the  plate  was 
held  too  close  to  my  face.  The  heat  and  the  effluvia 
produced  enormous  white  spots  on  the  plate.  I  then 
placed  a  sensitive  plate  in  a  photographic  apparatus,  from 
which,  on  the  advice  of  M.  Ferrari,  photographer,  I  had 
removed  the  lens.  I  placed  the  left  eye  in  the  opening 
left  by  the  removal  of  the  lens,  and  I  gazed  at  the  plate 
for  half-an-hour. 

This  hole  was  only  large  enough  to  admit  the  eye  and 
a  very  little  of  the  arch  of  the  eyebrow  and  the  socket. 
The  plate  was  in  the  dark  slide  of  the  apparatus,  about 
four  inches  from  the  eye.  The  whole  experiment  was 
made  in  the  completely  darkened  laboratory ;  my  head 
and  the  apparatus  were  further  enveloped  in  a  black 
cloth.  On  development  the  print  showed  some  marks  as 
though  made  with  a  paint-brush,  radiating  around  the 
point  where  I  thought  my  gaze  was  fixed,  and  in  addition 
a  rather  large  spot  on  one  of  the  small  sides  of  the  plate, 
corresponding,  in  my  opinion,  with  the  direction  of  the 
nose  and  nostrils. 

The  plate  being  about  four  inches  from  the  eye,  it 
seemed  difficult  to  ascribe  the  markings  to  the  heat  from 
the  socket,  which  would  have  been  carried  off  by  the 
metallic  edges  of  the  hole.  Moreover,  I  do  not  see  how 
heat  could  make  such  singular  paint-brush  marks;  it 
would  have  given  a  more  uniform  aureole.  Finally,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  ascribe  them  to  lines  of  force  pro- 
duced in  the  bath,  since  the  experiment  was  made  on  a 
dry  plate. 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       373 

Ejjiuvia  frotn  the  Hand  injiuenced  by  Tliought 

I  made  some  experiments  with  tlae  hand,  the  plate 
being  immersed  at  the  time  in  the  developer.  Here  we 
can  invoke  heat  or  lines  of  force.  But  why  should  a  plate, 
impressed,  while  I  was  thinking  of  a  pagan  article  read  that 
morning  and  at  the  same  time  of  God,  only  the  middle 
finger  being  placed  on  the  plate,  have  produced  soft  lines 
in  the  form  of  a  river,  ending  in  the  remains  of  waves, 
peppered  with  black  spots,  the  whole  symbolising  a  sort 
of  bust  ? 

Why  should  another  plate,  impressed  during  .a  mental 
prayer  to  the  Virgin  and  to  the  Blessed  Albert  the  Great, 
have  produced  very  long  lines  rising  from  the  fingers  like 
long  jets  of  water,  a  phenomenon  which  I  have  not  found 
on  any  plate  impressed  in  the  course  of  purely  physical 
experiments  Avithout  any  religious  idea  ? 

PJiotographic  Experiment  on  the  Relation  between 
Human  and  Terrestrial  Polarity 

From  the  purely  physical  point  of  view  I  have  tried 
to  discover  by  photography  if  Reichenbach's  theory  was 
true,  whether  the  left  side  of  a  man .  and  the  south  pole 
of  the  earth,  and  similarly  the  right  side  of  a  man  and 
the  north  pole  of  the  earth,  were  of  opposite  and  attrac- 
tive polarity. 

I  therefore  placed  my  left  hand  on  a  plate  immersed 
in  the  bath,  the  tips  of  the  fingers  directed  towards  the 
south,  then  as  a  counter-proof,  the  fingers  of  the  right 
hand  on  another  plate,  the  tips  of  the  fingers  directed 
towards  the  south.  Now  the  traces  of  effiuvia  were  wider 
and  more  extended  in  a  southerly  direction  than  on  the 
second,  which  tended  to  confirm  Reichenbach's  theory — 
a  theory  which,  moreover,  is  substantiated  by  the  experi- 
ments of  M.  Durville. 

I  also  placed  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  on  a 
third  plate,  pointing  the  fingers  towards  the  north,  and 
the  fingers  of  the  left  hand  on  a  fourth,  pointing  them 


374  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

towards  the  north.  On  the  third  plate  the  effluvia  were 
wider  and  more  extended  in  a  northerly  direction  than 
on  the  fourth. 

According  to  my  experiment  it  therefore  seems  that 
Reichenbach  and  Durville  are  right,  that  the  south  of  the 
earth  attracts  and  develops  the  effluvia  of  the  right  hand. 
But  it  is  necessary  for  other  researchers  to  repeat  my 
experiment  on  this  subject  in  order  to  confirm  and  estab- 
lish it  definitely. 

We  might  also  investigate  photographically  what  are 
the  relations  between  the  right  side  of  man  and  the 
east,  west,  zenith,  and  nadir;  between  the  left  side  of 
man  and  these  same  directions;  between  the  head,  feet, 
back,  and  chest ;  the  south,  north,  east,  west,  zenith,  nadir, 
&c.  Here  is  a  field  for  investigation — the  relations  photo- 
graphically demonstrated  between  human  polarity  and 
terrestrial  and  cosmic  polarity. 

Another  experimenter,  Commandant  Darget  of  Tours, 
has  also  specially  studied  this  phenomenon.  The  following 
is  the  account  he  gives  of  certain  of  his  experiments : — 

"I  have  already  spoken  (he  writes)  of  the  projection 
of  a  section  of  the  brain  ef  a  calf,  which  had  been 
slaughtered,  on  a  photographic  plate,  which  a  butcher, 
in  my  presence,  had  held  on  its  head. 

"  This  phenomenon  made  me  think  that  a  newly  cut 
plant  which  had  been  left  for  two  or  three  days  to  die  and 
exhale  its  vitality  on  to  a  plate  might  produce  similar 
effects. 

"  My  expectation  was  not  in  vain ;  it  was  even  sur- 
passed, the  physiological  effects  of  the  loss  of  life  in  the 
plant  being  shoAvn  with  a  surprising  intensity.  On  April 
30th  I  took  from  the  hands  of  one  of  my  children  a  small 
fern  which  had  been  cut  half-an-hour  previously  from  our 
garden,  and  which  had  been  placed  in  a  book  in  order 
to  flatten  it.  I  took  it  to  my  dark  room,  and  opening 
a  box  of  Lumiere  plates  I  placed  the  fern  on  one  of  the 
plates ;  then  I  closed  the  box  again.  Two  days  afterwards 
I  took  the  plate  and  developed  it  in  the  ordinary  way  in 


PHcrrOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       375 

a  bath  of  hydro-qiiinone.  I  was  not  surprised,  but  greatly 
pleased  to  see  a  picture  of  m}^  fern  appear.  But  wliat 
was  my  wonderment  when  I  saw  on  the  first  print  that 
each  leaflet  had  thrown  a  shadow  of  its  own,  extending 
more  than  two  millimetres  away  from  it. 

"  Then  I  saw  that  this  shadow  was  divided  into  zones. 
I  then  saw  clearly  that  this  shadow  was  only  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  perisprit  of  the  astral  body  of  the  plant, 
and  that  the  zones  were  spasmodic  convulsions,  the  suc- 
cessive contractions  of  the  vitality  as  it  left  the  organism. 

"  The  phenomenon  had  been  threefold : — 

"  1.  Exact  portrait  of  the  plant. 

"  2.  Efiluvia  thrown  from  each  leaflet. 

"  3.  Zones  of  contraction  during  its  suffering. 

"  I  then  took  the  same  plant,  this  time  devoid  of  life, 
and  placed  it  under  a  plate  in  the  same  manner,  leaving 
this  also  two  days.  I  developed  it  at  the  end  of  this  time 
and  obtained  nothing,  not  the  slightest  imprint.  This  did 
not  astonish  me,  the  life  having  entirely  left  it  during  the 
first  experiment. 

"  Therefore,  when  I  propose  to  place  a  plate  on  the 
heart  and  head  of  a  man  who  is  believed  to  be  dead,  and 
who  might  be  in  danger  of  being  buried  alive,  I  believe 
that  I  am  right.  Traces  of  life,  if  any,  will  show  them- 
selves. Doubtless  also  we  shall  finish  by  finding  plates 
more  in  accord  with  the  vital  fluid  than  the  ordinary 
plates  now  in  use." 

Commandant  Darget  wished  by  another  experiment  to 
eliminate  the  action  of  the  stored-up  light. 

"  This  stored-up  light,"  he  said,  "  the  efi'ects  of  which 
I  believe  to  be  greatly  exaggerated,  did  not  give  me  any 
results,  although  I  made  experiments  in  order  to  have  it 
at  its  maximum. 

"  In  fact,  having  exposed  to  the  sun  for  two  hours  a 
five-centime  copper  piece  and  a  five-franc  silver  piece, 
I  put  them  on  a  plate  for  several  hours,  and  the  plate 
Avhen  developed  showed  nothing. 

"  I  then  took  a  leaf  of  the  same  fern  that  had  been 
in  the  sun  from  six  to  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 


376  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

put  it  on  a  plate  as  on  the  first  occasion.  I  did  not  get 
the  least  trace. 

"  When  you  tell  me  that  animals  do  not  die  in  the 
same  way,  and  that  1  shall  not  always  obtain  the  same 
results,  you  are  quite  right,  and  I  might  try  ten  times 
to  obtain  the  photograph  of  a  section  of  the  brain  of 
a  slaughtered  calf,  and  yet  I  might  not  obtain,  as  it 
happened  for  the  first  time  on  the  proofs  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  the  design  of  the  convolutions  and  anfractuosities 
of  this  organ  with  the  same  intensity  and  accuracy. 

"Nevertheless,  I  think  I  can  assert  that  with  the 
present  photographic  plate,  independent  of  any  that  may 
be  discovered  more  sensitive  to  the  vital  fluid,  physiological 
science  can  be  enriched  by  new  and  unsuspected  truths. 

"  One  word  more  on  the  so-called  stored-up  light. 

"On  February  10th  last  I  met  M.  Peign^,  a  photo- 
grapher at  Tours,  who  asked  me  to  come  into  his 
laboratory,  in  order  to  see  if  the  magnetic  fluid  could 
really  be  graphically  shown. 

"  1.  Two  plates  put  in  the  same  basin  gave  colours 
under  my  fingers  in  the  same  period  of  time.  M,  Peign^'s 
plate  had  green  and  yellow  borders  outside  the  fingers, 
and  carmine,  red  with  large  blue  spots  under  the  fingers. 
Further,  some  long  eftluvia,  radiating  from  each  of  his 
fingers,  extended  almost  to  the  edge  of  a  9  x  12  ctm. 
(3Jx4f  in.)  plate. 

"  This  is  what  I  call  the  fluid  of  the  magnetisers.  With 
regard  to  myself  I  had  good  colour,  but  not  any  eflluvia. 

"  2.  Two  dry  plates,  with  two  five-franc  pieces  taken 
from  M.  Peigne's  purse,  gave,  in  his  case,  their  circumfer- 
ence and  some  letters  of  the  inscription.  In  my  case  the 
circle  only. 

"  It  follows  that  his  magnetism  was  more  powerful 
than  mine. 

"  But  it  nuist  be  acknowledged  that  if  the  two  pieces 
had  been  exposed  to  the  sun  for  some  hours  they  would 
have  imprinted  neither  their  circumference  nor  the 
letters,  any  more  than  in  the  experiment  related  at  the 
commencement." 


Fig.  5. — Radiation  from  two  thumbs  of  Commandant  Darget. 


Fig.  6. — Thought-photograph  (first  bottle).  Obtained  by 
Commandant  Darget  when  thinking  intensely  of  a 
bottle  which  he  had  just  been  looking  at. 


Fig.  7. — Thought-photograph  (second  bottle).     Obtained  by 
Commandant  Darget. 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE    INVISIBLE       377 

The  second  category  of  thought-photographs  is  still 
more  interesting.  Here  certain  pictures  appear  sometimes 
with  such  clearness  that  it  is  difficult  to  attribute  them 
to  chance. 

Unfortunately  the  experiments  are  not  yet  sufficiently 
conclusive  for  us  to  be  able  to  say  that  their  existence  is 
scientitically  demonstrated. 

In  France,  a  man  whose  rectitude  can  be  doubted  by 
none,  Commandant  Darget,  states  that  he  has  obtained 
some,  which  we  reproduce  in  order  to  convey  some  idea  to 
those  who  have  no  knowledge  of  them. 

The  following  is  the  manner  in  which  the  author  him- 
self says  he  obtained  them  : — 

There  are  first  of  all  two  photographs  representing  a 
bottle. 

"  They  were  taken,  like  that  of  the  cane,"  writes  Com- 
mandant Darget,  "gelatine  side  downwards,  the  fingers 
touching  the  plate  on  the  glass  side,  in  order  to  project 
the  fluid  and  the  thought  constructing  the  fluid,  putting 
it  in  place,  so  to  speak,  and  making  the  Mens  agitat 
molem ;  to  effect  this  a  strong  exertion  of  will-power  was 
needed.  M.  A.,  through  whose  mediumship  one  of  the 
photographs  was  obtained,  told  me  that  he  did  not  wish 
to  try  again  because  of  the  headache  from  Avhich  he 
suffered  after  these  experiments." 

The  following  is  Commandant  Darget's  own  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  obtained  the  photographs  of 
the  bottle. 

"  On  May  27,  1896,  M.  A.  showed  me  in  L' Illustration 
of  May  23rd  a  finger  with  some  fluidic  flames  obtained  by 
Dr.  Le  Bon  in  the  developing  bath  when  touching  the 
gelatine.  He  invited  me  that  very  evening  to  try  the 
same  experiment.  I  did  so,  and  obtained  a  large  radiation 
around  my  five  fingers. 

"  Then  M.  A.  said  to  me  that  if  one  could  represent  an 
object,  the  phenomenon  would  become  remarkable.  Here 
I  must  enter  into  some  details. 

"  M.  A.  had  just  poured  me  out  a  glass  of  old  brandy; 
I  had  kept  the  bottle  before  my  eyes  for  half-an-hour,     I 


378  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

bad  expressed  my  intention  of  tasting  it  again,  saying 
jokingly,  that  this  would  give  me  more  fluid.  Then  I 
put  a  plate  in  the  bath,  which  I  touched  on  the  glass 
side  and  not  on  the  gelatine  side.  I  thought  first  of  all 
of  a  table ;  my  thought  glided  on  to  the  image  of  a  chair, 
which  also  vanished,  giving  place  to  the  image  of  the 
bottle  from  which  I  had  drunk.  It  must  be  observed 
that  I  had  a  similar  bottle  containing  the  developer 
before  my  eyes,  and  I  saw  it,  by  means  of  the  red  light, 
in  the  dark  room. 

"The  picture  which  came  on  the  plate  when  de- 
veloped is  shown  herewith.  It  is  certain  that  the  out- 
line of  a  bottle  can  be  distinguished  ;  it  is  so  clear  that  it 
cannot  be  attributed  to  a  shadow  or  to  a  chance  fogging. 

"  M.  A.  having  pointed  out  that  in  order  to  thoroughly 
prove  the  reality  of  this  phenomenon,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  obtain  a  second  bottle,  we  agreed  to  try. 

"  He  did  not  omit  to  make  me  drink  of  the  same  old 
brandy ;  for  my  part,  I  looked  for  a  long  time  at  the 
bottle. 

"Having  gone  into  the  dark  room,  I  tried  the  same 
process  as  in  the  preceding  experiment,  placing  my  fingers 
on  the  glass  side  of  the  plate  in  the  bath.  When  the 
plate  was  fixed  and  washed  we  looked  for  the  picture  of 
the  bottle  and  found  it." 

Commandant  Darget  also  obtained  some  very  curious 
photographs,  amongst  others  that  of  a  walking-stick. 

This  is  what  he  says  himself: — 

'•  The  photograph  of  the  walking-stick  was  obtained  at 
Vouzicrs  eleven  years  ago.  It  was  a  stick  with  a  handle 
which  I  generally  used.  I  had  put  it  on  my  desk  where 
I  made  my  photographs  that  evening,  after  closing  the 
windows  and  taking  out  my  red  lantern. 

"  With  regard  to  the  eagle,  it  was  produced  in  this  way. 
Mme.  Darget  was  in  my  office,  lying  on  my  sofa,  about 
ten  o'clock  in  the  evening.  I  said  to  her  :  '  I  am  going  to 
put  out  the  lamp  and  to  try  (as  I  have  already  done 
sometimes)  to  take  a  fiuidic  print  over  my  forehead.  I 
will  hand  you  a  plate  for  you  to  do  it  as  well.' 


Fig.  8. — Thought-plioto2;rapli.     The  walking-stick. 
Commandant  Darget. 


Obtained  by 


Fig.  9.- 


-Dream-photograph.     Eagle, 
by  Commandant  Darget. 


Obtained 


PHOTOGRAPHY   OF   THE   INVISIBLE       379 

"  I  therefore  handed  her  a  phite,  which  she  held  with 
both  her  hands  about  an  inch  in  front  of  her  forehead.  A 
short  time  afterwards,  it  might  be  about  ten  minutes,  she 
said  to  me  :  '  I  think  I  have  been  asleep ;  I  am  very  tired, 
I  am  going  to  lie  down.'  And,  feeling  her  way  in  the 
darkness,  she  handed  me  the  plate. 

"  I  then  went  to  develop  it,  and  was  surprised  to  see 
this  astonishing  figure  of  an  eagle.  I  have  called  it  '  a 
dream-photograph,'  although  my  wife  does  not  remember 
having  dreamed  of  a  bird  or  anything  else  while  she  held 
the  plate. 

These  various  experiments  which  we  have  desired  to 
make  known  to  the  reader  are,  as  may  be  seen,  still  quite 
incomplete.  They  indicate,  however,  a  path  which  it 
would  be  well  to  follow,  because  it  seems  to  be  rich  in 
discoveries  of  great  importance. 

We  have  recently  made  this  question  a  subject  of  study 
in  the  various  groups  of  the  Societe  Universelle  d'Etudes 
Psychiques,  and  experiments  are  at  present  in  progress,  the 
results  of  which  we  cannot  yet  give. 

We  shall  now  see  what  are  the  principal  points  that 
ought  to  be  observed  if  we  wish  to  experiment  on  these 
phenomena,  and  if  our  experiments  are  to  possess  scientific 
value. 

First  of  all,  we  must  avoid  everything  which  might  pro- 
duce on  the  plates  any  trace  that  might  lead  us  into  error. 
We  must  avoid  all  accidental  fogging  arising  from  imper- 
fect closing  of  the  apparatus  containing  the  plate,  or  from 
a  badly  constructed  dark  room. 

The  experimenter  should  only  operate  with  plates 
purchased  by  himself,  and  taken  from  a  box  which  he  had 
himself  opened  at  the  time  of  the  experiment. 

The  experimenter  ought  only  to  use  instruments  and 
materials  belonging  to  him,  well  known  to  him,  and  verified 
immediately  before  the  experiment. 

The  experimenter  ought  to  have  before  his  mind  all 
the  possible  processes  of  trickery,  and  particularly  those 
described  by  Mr.  Taylor ;  he  ought  himself  to  prepare  the 


380  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

background  and  all  the  accessory  objects  which  might  be 
taken  in  the  photograph.  In  each  experiment  he  ought 
to  compare  the  results  obtained  with  other  trial  plates 
which  are  placed  in  the  bath  without  having  been 
exposed. 

All  these  conditions  fulfilled,  here  are  some  experiments 
which  can  be  made  : — 

Method  of  M.  Jounet:  In  the  dark  room,  place  the 
sensitive  plate  at  the  bottom  of  a  rectangular  box,  one  of 
the  slides  of  which  remains  open.  While  holding  the  eyes 
against  this  opening  look  at  the  plate,  as  though  looking 
in  a  stereoscope,  and  think  of  an  object  of  very  simple 
form,  of  which  it  is  desired  to  see  the  picture  imprinted 
on  the  plate. 

According  to  the  procedure  of  Commandant  Darget, 
take  an  object  of  very  simple  form,  gaze  attentively  at  it 
for  a  few  moments  in  order  to  engrave  it  firmly  on  the 
mind  ;  then  go  into  the  dark  room  and  make  the  three 
following  experiments  : — 

1.  Place  a  photographic  plate  with  the  glass  side 
against  the  forehead  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  mentally 
picturing  the  object  decided  upon,  and  strongly  desiring 
to  make  an  impression  on  the  plate. 

2.  Place  the  hand  on  a  plate  (or  hold  the  plate  in  the 
hand)  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  operating  as  before. 

3.  Put  the  plate  into  a  developing  bath,  placing  the 
fingers  of  one  hand  on  the  edge  of  the  plate  for  ten 
minutes.  There  should  ahvays  be  the  desire  to  imprint 
on  the  plate  the  picture  of  the  object  which  is  very 
strongly  thought  of. 

After  each  operation  develop  the  plate  at  the  same 
time  as  another  (check)  plate. 

It  is  well  to  isolate  oneself  as  much  as  possible,  and  to 
be  free  from  all  disturbing  influences  during  the  course 
of  the  experiments,  which  ought  to  be  made  with  very 
sensitive  plates. 

I  particularly  advise  the  following  new  methods,  in 
which  the  co-operation  of  the  medium  is  made  use  of: — 

1.  The  medium  being  in  a  spontaneous  condition  of 


PHOTOGRArHY    OF   THE   INVISIBLE       381 

waiting,  a  light  hypnotic  condition,  or  completely  hypno- 
tised, suggest  to  him  the  desire  to  impress  the  picture  of  an 
object  on  a  plate,  which  should  be  placed  on  a  table  under 
his  hand,  the  hand  touching  the  glass  side. 

2.  Suggest  to  the  medium  that  he  can  see  the  picture 
on  a  plate  held  in  front  of  him  in  the  dark  room. 

3.  In  the  light  focus  a  photographic  apparatus  on  a 
white  background.  Then  suggest  to  the  medium  to  make 
the  object  appear  on  this  screen,  and  when  he  says  he  sees 
it  clearly  take  an  instantaneous  photograph. 

Try  the  same  experiment  again  with  a  black  background. 
Always  expose  check-plates  before  the  medium  enters. 

4.  In  the  dark  room  focus  the  apparatus  on  a  white 
background,  then  darken  the  room.  Suggest  to  the 
medium  to  make  the  desired  picture  appear  on  this  back- 
ground and  to  see  it.  When  he  sees  it,  uncover  the  lens 
and  give  a  prolonged  exposure,  as  long  as  the  picture 
remains  visible  to  the  subject. 

The  same  operation  with  a  black  background  and 
check-plates  as  in  the  preceding  experiment. 

In  all  these  experiments  the  subject  should  be  con- 
tinuously held  by  an  experimenter,  so  that  he  is  known 
to  be  completely  motionless  throughout  the  experiment, 
outside  the  range  of  the  apparatus. 

I  would  also  advise,  as  in  the  experiments  on  motri- 
city,  to  surround  the  medium  with  a  group  of  experi- 
menters, who  all,  at  the  same  time  as  the  medium,  should 
have  present  in  their  thoughts  the  picture  they  desire  to 
appear,  and  like  him  have  their  gaze  fixed  on  the  white 
or  black  background  with  the  desire  to  make  the  picture 
appear. 

By  thus  experimenting  in  a  careful  and  methodical 
manner  we  may  hope,  when  we  meet  with  favourable 
conditions,  to  succeed  in  photographing  pictures  invisible 
to  our  retina,  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  as  certain 
experiments  quoted  in  this  chapter  lead  us  to  suppose. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

REPORTS  OF   THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES 
ON   PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

We  come  now  to  a  class  of  phenomena  different  from  the 
preceding :  these  are  the  phenomena  in  which  externahsa- 
tion  of  force  is  manifested. 

As  the  phenomena  which  we  are  now  about  to  examine 
are  much  more  difficult  of  belief  than  all  the  others,  we 
will  first  of  all  give  some  extracts  from  the  reports  of 
two  scientific  committees,  which  devoted  themselves  to  a 
very  strict  study  of  them  in  a  spirit  of  rigorous  scientific 
investigation. 

The  authority  of  the  persons  forming  these  committees 
is  such  that  no  one  can  doubt  the  results  of  their  inquiry, 
and  the  conclusions  to  which  they  came. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  two  Committees  were 
composed  of  men  whose  names  and  qualifications  stand 
equally  high  as  guarantees  of  authenticity  and  sincerity. 
Moreover,  they  worked  in  two  different  countries  and  at 
different  times ;  it  would  therefore  be  absurd  to  reject 
their  evidence,  under  the  pretext  that  they  had  all  been 
led  into  error  in  the  same  way. 

Some  Extracts  from  the  Reports  of  the  Committee 
OF  THE  Dialectical  Society  of  London 

The  Dialectical  Society  of  London,  which  was  founded 
in  1867,  under  the  presidency  of  Sir  John  Lubbock, 
and  comprised  the  principal  English  savants,  resolved  on 
January  6,  1869  :— 

"  That  the  Council  be  requested  to  appoint  a  Com- 
mittee, in  conformity  with  Bye-law  VII.,   to  investigate 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN    COMMITTEES     383 

the   phenomena   alleged   to  be  Spiritual   Manifestations, 
and  to  report  thereon." 

On  January  26,  1869,  the  Committee  was  nominated 
and  consisted  of  the  following : — 

H.  G.  Atkinson,  Esq.,  F.G.S.  Mrs.  J.  H.  Hillier. 

G.  Wheatley  Bennett,  Esq.  Henry  Jeffery,  Esq. 

J.  S.  Bergheim,  Esq.,  C.E.  H.  D.  Jencken,  Esq.,^-Barrister- 
Chas.  Bradlaugh,  Esq.  at-Law. 

G.  Fenton  Cameron,  Esq.,  M.D.  Albert  Kisch,  Esq.,  M.R.C.S. 

George  Gary,  Esq.  B.A.  J.  H.  Levy,  Esq. 

E.  W.  Cox,   Esq.,   Serjeant-at-  Joseph  Maurice,  Esq. 

Law.  Isaac  L.  Meyers,  Esq. 

Rev.  C.  Maurice  Davies,  D.D.  B.  M.  Moss,  Esq. 

D.  H.  Dyte,  Esq.,  M.R.C.S.  Robert  Quelch,  Esq.,  C.E. 

Mrs.  D.  H.  Dyte.  Thomas  Reed,  Esq. 

James  Edmunds,  Esq.,  M.D.  Russell  Roberts,  Esq.,  Ph.D. 

Mrs.  Edmunds.  W.  H.  Swepstone,  Esq.,  Solicitor. 

James  Gannon,  Esq.  William  Volckman,  Esq. 

Grattan  Geary,  Esq.  Alfred      R.       Wallace,       Esq., 
William  B.  Gower,  Esq.  F.R.G.S. 

Robert  Hannah,  Esq.  Josiah  Webber,  Esq. 

Jenner  Gale  Hillier,  Esq.  Horace  S.  Yeomaus,  Esq. 


Report  of  the  Gomtnittee 

Gentlemen, — The  Committee  appointed  by  you  to  in- 
vestigate the  phenomena  alleged  to  be  Spiritual  Mani- 
festations, report  thereon  as  follows  : — 

Your  Committee  have  held  fifteen  meetings,  at  which 
they  received  evidence  from  thirty-three  persons,  who 
described  phenomena  which,  they  stated,  had  occurred 
within  their  own  personal  experience. 

Your  Committee  have  received  written  statements  re- 
lating to  the  phenomena  from  thirty-one  persons. 

Your  Committee  invited  the  attendance  and  requested 
the  co-operation  and  advice  of  scientific  men  who  had 
publicly  expressed  opinions,  favourable  or  adverse,  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  phenomena. 

Your  Committee  also  specially  invited  the  attendance 


384  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

of  persons  who  had  pubUcly  ascribed  the  phenomena  to 
imposture  or  delusion. 

Your  Committee,  however,  while  successful  in  procuring 
the  evidence  of  believers  in  the  phenomena  and  in  their 
supernatural  origin,  almost  wholly  failed  to  obtain  evidence 
from  those  who  attributed  them  to  fraud  or  delusion. 

As  it  appeared  to  your  Committee  to  be  of  the  greatest 
importance  that  they  should  investigate  the  phenomena 
in  question  by  personal  experiment  and  test,  they  resolved 
themselves  into  sub-committees  as  the  best  means  of 
doing  so. 

Six  sub-committees  were  accordingly  formed. 

All  of  these  have  sent  in  reports,  from  which  it  appears 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  your  Committee 
have  become  actual  witnesses  to  several  phases  of  the 
phenomena  without  the  aid  or  presence  of  any  profes- 
sional medium,  although  the  greater  part  of  them  com- 
menced their  investigations  in  an  avowedly  sceptical  spirit. 

These  reports,  hereto  subjoined,  substantially  corrobo- 
rate each  other,  and  would  appear  to  establish  the  follow- 
ing propositions : — 

1.  That  sounds  of  a  very  varied  character,  apparently 
proceeding  from  articles  of  furniture,  the  floor  and  walls 
of  the  room — the  vibrations  accompanying  which  sounds 
are  often  distinctly  perceptible  to  the  touch — occur,  with- 
out being  produced  by  muscular  action  or  mechanical 
contrivance. 

2.  That  movements  of  heavy  bodies  take  place  without 
mechanical  contrivance  of  any  kind  or  adequate  exertion 
of  iiuiscular  force  by  the  persons  present,  and  frequently 
without  contact  or  connection  with  any  person. 

3.  That  these  sounds  and  movements  often  occur 
at  the  times  and  in  the  manner  asked  for  by  persons 
present,  and  by  means  of  a  simple  code  of  signals  answer 
questions  and  spell  out  coherent  communications. 

4.  That  the  answers  and  communications  thus  obtained 
are,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  commonplace  character;  but 
facts  are  sometimes  correctly  given  which  are  only  shown 
to  one  of  the  persons  present. 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN    COMMITTEES     385 

5.  That  the  circumstances  under  which  the  phenomena 
occur  are  variable,  the  most  prominent  fact  being,  that 
the  presence  of  certain  persons  seems  necessary  to  their 
occurrence,  and  that  of  others  generally  adverse ;  but  this 
difference  does  not  appear  to  depend  upon  any  belief  or 
disbelief  concerning  the  phenomena. 

6.  That,  nevertheless,  the  occurrence  of  the  phenomena 
is  not  insured  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  such  persons 
respectively. 

Reports  of  the  Experimental  Suh-committees 

Since  their  appointment  on  the  16th  of  February  1869, 
your  Sub-committee  have  held  forty  meetings  for  the 
purpose  of  experiment  and  test. 

All  of  these  meetings  were  held  at  the  private  resi- 
dences of  members  of  the  Committee,  purposely  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  prearranged  mechanism  or  contrivance. 

The  furniture  of  the  room  in  which  the  experiments 
were  conducted  was  on  every  occasion  its  accustomed 
furniture. 

The  tables  were  m  all  cases  heavy  dining-tables, 
requiring  a  strong  effort  to  move  them.  The  smallest 
of  them  was  5  ft.  9  in.  long  and  4  ft.  wide,  and 
the  largest  9  ft.  3  in.  long  and  4J  ft.  wide,  and  of 
proportionate  weight. 

The  rooms,  tables,  and  furniture  generally  were  re- 
peatedly subjected  to  careful  examination  before,  during, 
and  after  the  experiments,  to  ascertain  that  no  concealed 
machinery,  instrument,  or  other  contrivance  existed  by 
means  of  which  the  sounds  or  movements  hereinafter 
mentioned  could  be  caused. 

The  experiments  were  conducted  in  the  light  of  gas, 
except  on  the  few  occasions  specially  noted  in  the 
minutes. 

Your  Committee  have  avoided  the  employment  of 
professional  or  paid  mediums,  the  mediumship  being  that 
of  members  of  your  Sub-committee,  persons  of  good 
social  position  and  of  unimpeachable  integrity,  having  no 

2  B 


386  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

pecuniary    object    to    serve,    and    nothing    to    gain    by 
deception. 

Your  Committee  have  held  some  meetings  without  the 
presence  of  a  medium  (it  being  understood  that  through- 
out this  report  the  word  "medium"  is  used  simply  to 
designate  an  individual  without  whose  presence  the 
phenomena  described  either  do  not  occur  at  all,  or 
with  greatly  diminished  force  and  frequency),  purposely  to 
try  if  they  could  produce,  by  any  efforts,  effects  similar 
to  those  witnessed  when  a  medium  was  present.  By  no 
endeavours  were  they  enabled  to  produce  anything  at  all 
resembling  the  manifestations  which  took  place  in  the 
presence  of  a  medium. 

Every  test  that  the  combined  intelligence  of  your 
Committee  could  devise  has  been  tried  with  patience  and 
perseverance.  The  experiments  were  conducted  under  a 
great  variety  of  conditions,  and  ingenuity  has  been  exerted 
in  devising  plans  by  which  your  Committee  might  verify 
their  observations  and  preclude  the  possibility  of  impos- 
ture or  of  delusion. 

Your  Committee  have  confined  their  report  to  facts 
witnessed  by  them  in  their  collective  capacity,  which 
facts  were  palpable  to  the  senses,  and  their  reality  capable 
pi  demonstrative  proof. 

Of  the  members  of  your  Sub- committee  about  four- 
fifths  entered  upon  the  investigation  wholly  sceptical  as 
to  the  reality  of  the  alleged  phenomena,  firmly  believing 
them  to  be  the  result  either  of  imposture  or  of  delusion 
or  of  involuntary  evidence,  under  conditions  that  pre- 
cluded the  possibility  of  either  of  these  solutions  and  after 
trial  and  test  many  times  repeated,  that  the  most  sceptical 
of  your  Sub-committee  were  slowly  and  reluctantly  con- 
vinced that  the  phenomena  exhibited  in  the  course  of 
their  protracted  inquiry  were  veritable  facts. 

The  result  of  their  long-continued  and  carefully  con- 
ducted experiments,  after  trial  by  every  detective  test 
they  could  devise,  has  been  to  establish  conclusively : — 

First.  That  under  certain  bodily  or  mental  conditions 
of  one  or  more  of  the  persons  present,  a  force  is  exhibited 


THE    LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     387 

sufficient  to  set  in  motion  heavy  substances  without  the 
employment  of  any  muscular  force,  without  contact  or 
material  connection  of  any  kind  between  such  substances 
and  the  body  of  any  person  present. 

Second.  That  this  force  can  cause  sounds  to  proceed, 
distinctly  audible  to  all  present,  from  solid  substances  not 
in  contact  with,  nor  having  any  visible  or  material  con- 
nection with,  the  body  of  any  person  present,  and  which 
sounds  are  proved  to  proceed  from  such  substances  by  the 
vibrations  which  are  distinctly  felt  when  they  are  touched. 

Third,  That  this  force  is  frequently  directed  by 
intelligence. 

At  thu'ty-four  out  of  the  forty  meetings  of  your  Com- 
mittee some  of  these  phenomena  occurred. 

A  description  of  one  experiment,  and  the  manner  of 
conducting  it,  will  best  show  the  care  and  caution  with 
which  your  Committee  have  pursued  their  investigation. 

So  long  as  there  was  contact,  or  even  the  possibility 
of  contact,  by  the  hands  or  feet,  or  even  by  the  clothes  of 
any  person  in  the  room,  with  the  substance  moved  or 
sounded,  there  could  be  no  perfect  assurance  that  the 
motions  and  sounds  were  not  produced  by  the  person 
so  in  contact.  The  following  experiment  was  therefore 
tried. 

On  an  occasion  when  eleven  members  of  your  Sub- 
committee had  been  sitting  round  one  of  the  dining-tables 
above  described  for  forty  minutes,  and  various  motions 
and  sounds  had  occurred,  they,  by  way  of  test,  turned  the 
backs  of  their  chairs  to  the  table,  and  about  nine  inches 
from  it.  They  all  then  knelt  upon  their  chairs,  placing 
their  arms  upon  the  backs  thereof.  In  this  position  their 
feet  were,  of  course,  turned  away  from  the  table,  and  by 
no  possibility  could  be  placed  under  it  or  touch  the  floor. 
The  hands  of  each  person  were  extended  over  the  table  at 
about  four  inches  from  the  surface.  Contact,  therefore, 
with  any  part  of  the  table  could  not  take  place  without 
detection. 

In  less  than  a  minute  the  table,  untouched,  moved 
lour  times;    at  first  about  five  inches  to  one  side,  then 


388  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

about  twelve  inches  to  the  opposite  side,  and  then,  in  hke 
manner,  four  inches  and  six  inches  respectively. 

The  hands  of  all  present  were  next  placed  on  the  back 
of  their  chairs,  and  about  a  foot  from  the  table,  which 
again  moved,  as  before,  five  times,  over  spaces  varying 
from  four  to  six  inches.  Then  all  the  chairs  were  re- 
moved twelve  inches  from  the  table,  and  each  person 
knelt  on  his  chair  as  before — this  time,  however,  folding 
his  hands  behind  his  back,  his  body  being  thus  about 
eighteen  inches  from  the  table,  and  having  the  back  of 
the  chair  between  himself  and  the  table.  The  table  again 
moved  four  times,  in  various  directions.  In  the  course  of 
this  conclusive  experiment,  and  in  less  than  half-an-hour, 
the  table  thus  moved,  without  contact  or  possibility  of 
contact  with  any  person  present,  thirteen  times,  the  move- 
ments being  in  different  directions,  and  some  of  them 
according  to  the  request  of  various  members  of  your 
Sub-committee. 

The  table  was  then  carefully  examined,  turned  upside 
down  and  taken  to  pieces,  but  nothing  was  discovered  to 
account  for  the  phenomena.  The  experiment  was  con- 
ducted throughout  in  the  full  light  of  gas  above  the 
table. 

Altogether,  your  Sub-committee  have  witnessed  up- 
wards of  fifty  similar  motions  without  contact  on  eight 
different  evenings,  in  the  houses  of  members  of  your  Sub- 
committee, the  most  careful  tests  being  applied  on  each 
occasion. 

In  all  similar  experiments  the  possibility  of  mechanical 
or  other  contrivance  was  further  negatived  by  the  fact 
that  the  movements  were  in  various  directions,  now  to 
one  side,  then  to  the  other ;  now  up  the  room,  now  down 
the  room — motions  that  would  have  required  the  co- 
operation of  many  hands  or  feet ;  and  these,  from  the 
great  size  and  weight  of  the  tables,  could  not  have  been 
so  used  without  the  visible  exercise  of  muscular  force. 
Every  hand  and  foot  was  plainly  to  be  seen,  and  could 
not  have  been  moved  without  instant  detection. 

Delusion  was  out  of  the  question.     The  motions  were 


THE    LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     389 

in  various  directions,  and  were  witnessed  simultaneously 
by  all  present.  They  were  matters  of  measurement,  and 
not  of  opinion  or  fancy. 

And  they  occurred  so  often,  under  so  many  and  such 
various  conditions,  with  such  safeguards  against  error  or 
deception,  and  with  such  invariable  results,  as  to  satisfy 
the  members  of  your  Sub-committee  by  whom  the  experi- 
ments were  tried,  wholly  sceptical  as  most  of  them  were 
when  they  entered  upon  the  investigation,  that  there  is  a 
force  capable  of  moving  heavy  bodies  without  material 
contact,  and  which  force  is  in  some  unknown  manner 
dependent  upon  the  presence  of  human  beings. 

Your  Sub-committee  have  not,  collectively,  obtained 
any  evidence  as  to  the  nature  and  source  of  this  force, 
but  simply  as  to  the  fact  of  its  existence. 

There  appears  to  your  Committee  to  be  no  ground  for 
the  popular  belief  that  the  presence  of  sceptics  interferes 
in  any  manner  with  the  production  or  action  of  the  force. 

In  conclusion,  your  Committee  express  their  unani- 
mous opinion  that  the  one  important  physical  fact  thus 
proved  to  exist,  that  motion  may  be  produced  in  solid 
bodies  without  material  contact,  by  some  hitherto  un- 
recognised force  operating  within  an  undefined  distance 
from  the  human  organism,  and  beyond  the  range  of 
muscular  action,  should  be  subjected  to  further  scientific 
examination,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  its  true  source  and 
power. 


Report  of  the  Milan  Commission  for  the  Investi- 
gation OF  Psychical  Phenomena 

Taking  into  consideration  the  evidence  of  Professor 
Lombroso  on  the  subject  of  mediumistic  phenomena  pro- 
duced through  Mme.  Eusapia  Paladino,  the  undersigned 
met  at  Milan  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  series  of  seances 
with  her  with  the  object  of  verifying  the  phenomena,  by 
submitting  her  to  experiments  and  to  observations  as 
rigorous  as  possible.     Seventeen  seances  in  all  were  held 


390  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

in  M.  Finzi's  rooms  at  Via  del  Monte  di  Pieta,  between 
9  P.M.  and  midnight. 

The  medium,  who  was  invited  to  the  seances  by  M. 
Aksakof,  was  introduced  by  Chevaher  Chiaia,  who  was 
only  present  at  a  third  of  the  seances,  and  his  attend- 
ance was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  earlier  and  less 
important  ones. 

In  view  of  the  stir  made  in  the  press  by  the  announce- 
ment of  these  seances,  and  the  varied  opinions  expressed 
with  regard  to  Mme.  Eusapia  and  Chevalier  Chiaia,  we 
think  it  our  duty  to  publish  without  delay  this  short 
report  of  all  our  observations  and  experiments. 

Before  entering  upon  the  subject  we  must  at  once 
remark  that  the  results  obtained  did  not  always  corre- 
spond with  our  expectation.  Not  but  what  we  had  a 
large  quantity  of  facts,  apparently  or  really  important  or 
marvellous  ;  but,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  we  were  unable 
to  apply  the  rules  of  the  experimental  art  which,  in  other 
fields  of  observation,  are  regarded  as  necessary  in  order  to 
arrive  at  sure  and  indisputable  results. 

The  most  important  of  these  rules  is  to  change,  one 
after  the  other,  the  methods  of  experiment,  so  as  to  ascer- 
tain the  real  cause,  or,  at  least,  the  true  conditions  of  all 
the  facts.  Now  it  is  exactly  from  this  aspect  that  our 
experiments  seem  to  us  to  be  at  present  wanting  in 
completeness. 

It  is  quite  true  that  the  medium,  in  order  to  prove  her 
good  faith,  often  spontaneously  proposed  to  change  some 
particular  feature  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  experiments, 
and  several  times  took  the  initiative  in  these  variations. 
But  this  was  often  only  with  regard  to  matters  apparently 
immaterial  from  our  point  of  view.  The  variations,  on 
the  contrary,  which  seemed  to  us  to  be  necessary  to  place 
beyond  doubt  the  true  character  of  the  results,  were  not 
accepted  as  possible  by  the  medium ;  or,  if  they  were 
carried  out,  in  the  majority  of  instances  only  made  the 
experiment  of  no  effect,  or  at  least  led  to  obscure  results. 

Wc  do  not  believe  that  we  have  the  right  to  explain 
these  facts  by  the  injurious  suppositions  which  many  still 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     391 

find  the  most  simple,  and  of  which  the  newspapers  have 
made  themselves  the  champions.  We  believe  that  the 
phenomena  are  of  unknown  nature,  and  we  admit  that  we 
do  not  know  the  conditions  necessary  for  their  production. 
To  attempt  to  fix  the  conditions  on  our  own  account 
would  be  as  extravagant  as  to  pretend  to  repeat  Torri- 
celli's  barometer  with  a  tube  closed  at  the  bottom,  or  to 
make  electro-static  experiments  in  an  extremely  humid 
atmosphere ;  or,  again,  to  produce  a  photograph  by  expos- 
ing a  sensitive  plate  to  broad  daylight  before  placing  it 
in  the  camera.  But  while  admitting  all  this,  which  no 
reasonable  man  can  doubt,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that 
the  obvious  impossibility  of  varying  the  experiments 
according  to  our  fancy  has  singularly  decreased  the  value 
and  interest  of  the  results  obtained,  by  taking  from  them 
in  several  instances  that  rigour  of  demonstration  which 
we  have  a  right  to  demand  in  facts  of  this  character,  or 
rather,  at  which  they  ought  to  aim. 

For  this  reason,  out  of  the  innumerable  experiments 
carried  out,  we  omit  or  only  cursorily  mention  those  which 
seem  to  us  inconclusive,  and  with  regard  to  which  various 
conclusions  might  easily  be  drawn  by  different  experi- 
menters. 

We  shall  note,  however,  in  considerable  detail,  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which,  in  spite  of  the  obstacle  we  have 
mentioned,  they  seem  to  us  to  have  attained  a  sufficient 
degree  of  probability. 

I 

Phenomena  observed  in  the  Light 

1.  Mechanical  movements  unexplainable  by  contact  of 
the  hands  alone. 

(a)  Lateral  raising  of  the  table  under  the  medium's 
hands  when  seated  at  one  end  of  the  shorter  sides  (ends). — 
We  used  for  this  experiment  a  deal  table  made  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose  by  M.  Finzi,  3  ft.  8  ins.  long, 
28  ins.  wide,  and  32  ins.  high,  weighing  nearly  eighteen 
pounds.     Among  the  various  methods  by  which  responses 


S92  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

were  given  by  the  table,  it  was  impossible  not  to  observe 
the  blows  frequently  produced  by  two  of  the  feet,  raised 
at  the  same  time  under  the  hands  of  the  medium,  without 
being  preceded  by  any  lateral  movement  of  the  table,  with 
force  and  rapidity  and  several  times  in  succession,  as 
though  the  table  was  fixed  to  the  medium's  hands,  and 
these  movements  were,  moreover,  more  remarkable  since 
the  medium  was  always  seated  at  one  of  the  ends  of  the 
table,  and  we  never  ceased  to  hold  her  hands  and  feet. 
These  phenomena  were  also  produced  when,  for  greater 
ease  of  observation,  we  left  the  medium  alone  at  the  table, 
her  two  hands  placed  completely  on  the  top  of  the  table 
and  her  sleeves  turned  up  almost  to  the  elbow. 

We  remained  standing  around  it,  and  the  space  over 
and  under  it  was  well  lighted.  In  these  conditions  the 
table  raised  itself  at  an  angle  of  from  thirty  to  forty 
degrees  and  remained  thus  for  some  minutes,  while  the 
medium  held  her  arms  extended  and  struck  her  feet 
against  each  other.  On  pressing  with  the  hand  on  the 
side  raised,  we  felt  a  considerable  elastic  resistance. 

(6)  Measure  of  the  foo-'ce  a'pplied  for  the  lateral  rising 
of  the  table. — For  this  experiment  the  table  was  suspended 
by  one  of  its  short  sides  from  a  dynamometer  held  by 
a  cord,  which  was  fixed  to  a  small  beam  restinar  on  two 
cupboards.  In  these  conditions  the  end  of  the  table  Avas 
raised  nearly  six  inches,  and  the  dynamometer  registered 
over  seven  and  a  half  pounds. 

The  medium  was  seated  at  the  same  end  of  the  table, 
with  her  hands  completely  placed  on  the  table  to  right 
and  left  of  the  cord  connected  with  the  dynamometer. 
Our  hands  formed  a  chain  above  the  table  without  pres- 
sure, in  such  a  way  that  they  could  in  any  case  have  only 
tended  to  increase  the  pressure  on  the  table.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  asked  that  the  pressure  should  be  diminished,  and 
soon  the  table  rose  on  the  side  where  the  dynamometer  was. 
M.  Gerosa,  who  followed  the  indications  of  the  apparatus, 
called  out  this  diminution  represented  by  the  successive 
figures :  3, 2, 1,  0  kilogrammes  ;  then  the  table  was  raised  so 
far  that  the  dynamometer  rested  horizontally  on  the  table. 


THE    LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     393 

Then  we  changed  the  conditions  by  placing  our  hands 
under  the  table,  the  medium  particularly  placing  hers, 
not  only  under  the  table,  by  which  means  she  could  have 
reached  the  cross-bar  and  thus  pulled  the  table  down,  but 
under  the  cross-piece  itself  which  connected  the  table  legs, 
touching  it  with  the  back  of  her  hand  instead  of  the 
palm.  Thus  all  the  hands  could  only  have  diminished 
the  traction  on  the  dynamometer.  On  the  desire  that 
this  traction  should  be  immediately  increased,  M.  Gerosa 
said  that  the  figures  showed  an  increase  from  3  kgr.  5,  up 
to  5  kgr.  6  (from  7^  to  12J  lbs.). 

During  all  these  experiments  each  of  the  medium's 
feet  rested  on  the  feet  of  her  neighbours  to  right  and 
left. 

(c)  Complete  raising  of  the  table. — It  was  natural  to 
conclude  that,  if  the  table,  by  an  apparent  contradiction 
of  the  laws  of  gravitation,  could  be  partially  raised  it  could 
also  be  completely  raised.  This,  in  fact,  did  take  place ; 
and  this  raising,  one  of  the  most  frequent  phenomena  with 
Eusapia,  lent  itself  to  a  satisfactory  examination. 

It  is  generally  produced  under  the  following  con- 
ditions: the  persons  seated  round  the  table  place  their 
hands  on  it  and  form  a  chain ;  each  hand  of  the  medium 
is  held  by  the  nearest  hand  of  each  of  her  next  neigh- 
bours; each  of  her  feet  rests  under  one  of  their  feet, 
and  they  also  press  their  knees  against  hers ;  she  usually 
sits  at  one  of  the  smaller  ends,  the  least  favourable  posi- 
tion for  a  mechanical  raising.  After  a  few  minutes  the 
table  makes  a  movement  to  the  side,  rises  either  to 
right  or  left,  and  finally  rises  altogether  with  its  four 
feet  horizontally  in  the  air,  generally  to  a  height  of  four 
to  eight  inches,  but,  in  exceptional  instances,  to  twenty- 
four  or  twenty-eight  inches ;  then  it  falls  back  on  to  all 
four  feet  simultaneously. 

It  often  remains  in  the  air  for  several  seconds  and 
while  there  makes  certain  undulatory  movements,  during 
which  the  four  feet  of  the  table  can  be  examined.  During 
the  raising  the  medium's  right  hand,  as  well  as  her  neigh- 
bour's, often  leaves  the  table  and  they  remain  suspended 


394  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

in  the  air  above  it.  During  the  experiment  the  medium's 
face  becomes  convulsed,  her  hands  contracted,  she  groans 
and  seems  to  suifer,  as  is  generally  the  case  when  pheno- 
mena are  produced. 

In  order  to  observe  the  fact  better  we  gradually 
eliminated  the  persons  round  the  table,  for  we  found 
that  a  chain  of  several  persons  was  not  at  all  necessary 
either  for  this  phenomenon  or  for  others,  and  eventually 
we  only  had  one  person  at  the  table,  with  the  medium  on 
his  left.  This  person  placed  his  foot  on  Eusapia's  two  feet 
and  one  hand  on  her  knees,  and  held  the  medium's  left 
hand  in  his  other  hand,  the  medium's  right  hand  being 
placed  on  the  table,  in  sight  of  all,  or  else  the  medium 
held  it  in  the  air  during  the  raising. 

As  the  table  remained  in  the  air  for  several  seconds  it 
was  possible  to  obtain  several  photographs  of  the  pheno- 
menon, a  thing  which  had  not  previously  been  done. 
Three  photographic  cameras  were  placed  in  different  parts 
of  the  room,  and  a  magnesium  flash  was  given  at  a  suit- 
able moment.  We  obtained  in  all  twenty-one  photo- 
graphs, some  of  which  were  excellent — thus  on  one  of 
them  we  saw  Professor  Richet,  who  held  one  hand,  the 
knees  and  one  foot  of  the  medium,  while  Professor 
Lombroso  held  the  other  hand,  and  the  table  rose 
horizontally;  as  could  be  seen  by  the  space  between  the 
extremity  of  each  foot  and  the  extremity  of  the  corre- 
sponding shadow. 

In  all  the  previous  experiments  we  principally  turned 
our  attention  to  carefully  inspecting  the  position  of  the 
medium's  hands  and  feet,  and  in  this  respect  we  think 
we  can  say  that  they  were  quite  above  suspicion. 

However,  we  cannot  pass  over  in  silence  one  fact,  to 
which  we  paid  no  attention  until  the  evening  of  Octo- 
ber 5th,  but  which  probably  must  have  occurred  in 
previous  experiments.  It  was  found  that  the  four 
feet  of  the  table  could  not  be  regarded  as  completely 
isolated  during  the  raising,  because  one  of  them  at  least 
was  in  contact  Avith  the  lower  edge  of  the  medium's 
skirt. 


THE   LONDON    AND   MILAN    COMMITTEES     395 

On  that  evening,  a  little  before  the  raising,  we  saw 
Eusapia's  skirt  blown  out  on  the  left  side  until  it  touched 
the  foot  of  the  table. 

One  of  us  was  deputed  to  prevent  this  contact  and  the 
table  was  not  raised  as  at  other  times,  and  it  only  occurred 
when  the  observer  intentionally  permitted  this  contact  to 
take  place,  as  shown  in  the  photographs  taken  of  this  ex- 
periment, and  also  in  those  where  the  foot  in  question  is 
visible  to  some  extent  at  its  lower  end.  It  was  noticed 
that  at  the  same  time  the  medium  had  her  hand  resting 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  table  and  on  the  same  side,  so 
that  this  foot  was  under  the  medium's  influence  in  the 
lower  part  by  means  of  the  skirt  and  in  the  upper  part 
by  means  of  her  hand. 

We  could  not  verify  in  any  way  the  degree  of  pressure 
exerted  at  this  moment  on  the  table  by  the  medium's 
hand,  and  we  could  not  ascertain,  owing  to  the  brevity  of 
the  raising,  what  counterbalancing  influence  on  the  table 
was  exerted  by  contact  with  the  skirt. 

In  order  to  avoid  this  contact  we  proposed  that  the 
raising  should  occur  while  the  medium  and  her  co- 
operators  were  standing,  but  this  was  not  successful. 
We  then  tried  placing  the  medium  on  one  of  the  longer 
sides  of  the  table,  but  the  medium  objected  to  this,  saymg 
that  it  was  impossible.  We  are  therefore  forced  to  state 
that  we  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  a  complete  raising  of 
the  table  with  the  four  feet  absolutely  free  of  all  contact, 
and  there  are  reasons  for  fearing  that  a  similar  objection 
exists  in  the  movements  of  the  two  feet  which  took  place 
on  the  medium's  side. 

In  what  way  could  the  contact  of  a  light  material 
with  one  foot  of  the  table  at  its  lower  end  assist  the 
raising  ?  This  we  are  unable  to  say.  The  hypothesis 
that  the  robe  could  conceal  a  solid  support  skilfully 
introduced  to  support  momentarily  the  foot  of  the  table, 
can  scarcely  be  accepted. 

In  fact,  to  support  the  whole  table  on  only  one  foot 
by  means  of  the  action  which  could  be  produced  by  one 
hand  on  the  upper  part  of  the  table,  would  demand  that 


396  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  hand  should  exert  on  the  table  a  very  strong  pressure 
such  as  we  do  not  think  Eusapia  would  be  capable  of 
exertmg,  even  for  three  or  four  seconds. 

We  have  convinced  ourselves  of  this  by  making  the 
experiment  ourselves  with  the  same  table. 

The  only  raisings  of  the  table  that  would  be  free  from 
this  uncertainty  would  be  those  in  which  the  two  feet 
furthest  from  the  medium  were  raised ;  but  this  very 
frequent  kind  of  raising  is  too  easy  to  produce  by  a  slight 
pressure  of  the  medium's  hand  on  the  side  where  she  is 
placed,  and  is  not  of  the  slightest  value  as  proof.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  lateral  movements,  on  the  two 
feet  placed  to  right  and  left  of  the  medium,  which  she 
could  easily  produce  by  the  simple  pressure  of  one  hand 
only. 

(d)  Variations  of  the  pressure  exercised  by  the  whole 
body  of  the  7nedium  seated  in  a  weighing-machine. — 
The  experiment  was  very  interesting  but  also  very 
difficult,  because  we  know  that  every  voluntary  or  other 
movement  of  the  medium  on  the  plate  of  the  scale  will 
cause  oscillations  of  this  plate,  and  consequently  of  the 
lever. 

In  order  to  make  the  experiment  conclusive,  the  lever 
must  remain  a  few  seconds  in  its  new  position  in  order 
to  allow  of  the  weight  being  measured  by  moving  the 
counterpoise.  We  made  the  attempt  with  this  hope. 
The  medium,  seated  on  a  chair,  was  placed  on  a  balance, 
and  we  found  her  weight  to  be  136  lbs.  After  some 
oscillations  there  was  a  very  pronounced  depression  of 
the  lever  for  some  seconds,  which  permitted  M.  Gerosa, 
Avho  was  at  the  lever,  to  measure  the  weight  immediately  ; 
it  was  114  lbs.,  or  a  decrease  of  22  lbs. 

On  our  expressing  the  desire  to  obtain  the  reverse 
result,  the  end  of  the  lever  was  soon  raised  and  showed 
an  increase  of  22  lbs.  This  experiment  was  repeated 
several  times  and  at  live  different  seances;  once  there 
were  no  results,  but  the  last  time  a  registering  apparatus 
enabled  us  to  obtain  two  curves  of  the  phenomenon. 

Wo  tried  ourselves  to  produce  similar  depressions  and 


THE    LONDON   AND   MILAN    COMMITTEES     397 

only  succeeded  when  we  stood  upright  on  the  plate,  and 
then  leaning  over  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other 
with  very  extensive  movements,  such  as  we  had  never 
seen  the  medium  make,  and  which  her  position  in  the 
chair  would  not  have  permitted.  While  recognising  that 
the  experiment  could  not  be  declared  absolutely  satis- 
factory, we  completed  it  by  that  which  will  be  described 
in  section  3. 

In  this  experiment  of  the  balance  some  of  us  think 
that  its  success  probably  depended  upon  contact  of  the 
medium's  gown  with  the  floor  on  which  the  balance 
directly  rested.  This  was  verified  by  an  observer  specially 
appointed  on  the  evening  of  October  9th.  When  the 
medium  was  on  the  balance,  the  one  who  was  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  her  feet  soon  saw  the  lower  end  of 
her  gown  stretch  out,  so  as  to  hang  below  the  platform  of 
the  machine.  When  this  was  objected  to  the  levitation 
did  not  take  place,  but  when  we  allowed  Eusapia's  gown 
to  touch  the  floor  there  were  constant  and  evident  levita- 
tions,  denoted  by  great  variations  in  the  indications  on 
the  dial,  registering  the  variation  of  weight. 

On  another  occasion  we  tried  to  obtain  the  levitation 
of  the  medium  by  placing  her  on  a  large  drawing-board 
and  the  latter  on  the  platform  of  the  weighing-machme. 
The  board  prevented  the  dress  from  touching  the  floor, 
and  the  experiment  was  not  successful. 

Finally,  on  the  evening  of  October  13th,  another  balance 
in  the  form  of  a  steel-yard  was  prepared,  the  plate  quite 
isolated  from  the  floor — nearly  a  foot  distant  from  it.  As 
we  particularly  watched  to  avoid  all  chance  contact  between 
the  plate  and  the  floor,  even  by  the  edge  of  Eusapia's 
gown,  the  experiment  failed.  However,  in  these  conditions 
we  believed  we  obtained  some  results  on  October  18th, 
but  this  time  the  experiment  was  not  conclusive  ;  we  were 
not  sure  whether  a  mantilla  which  Eusapia  was  wearing 
round  her  head  and  shoulders  had  touched  the  top  of  the 
scale  during  the  continuous  movement  of  the  medium. 
We  concluded  that  no  levitation  had  been  entirely  successful 
when  the  medium  was  completely  isolated  from  the  floor. 


398  PSYCHICAL   THENOMENA 

2.  Mechanical  movements  with  indirect  contact  of  the 
medium,  in  conditions  that  render  mechanical  action 
impossible. 

(a)  Horizontal  movement  of  the  table,  the  'medium 
having  her  hands  placed  on  three  halls  or  on  four  casters. 
— For  this  experiment,  as  conclusive  as  it  was  difficult, 
the  feet  of  the  table  were  furnished  with  casters.  A 
board,  sixteen  and  a  half  inches  long  and  twelve  and  a 
half  inches  wide,  was  placed  on  three  wooden  balls  an 
inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  then  placed  on  the  table. 
The  medium  was  asked  to  place  her  hands  on  the  middle 
of  this  board,  her  sleeves  were  drawn  back  about  her 
elbows ;  her  neighbours  placed  their  feet  and  knees  against 
hers,  the  legs  of  the  table  being  isolated  in  the  angles 
formed  by  the  legs  of  the  medium  and  the  controllers. 
In  these  conditions  the  table  moved  several  times  back- 
wards and  forwards,  to  right  and  to  left  and  parallel  to 
itself  for  a  distance  of  four  to  five  inches,  while,  daring 
this  time,  the  board,  although  it  was  on  the  balls,  moved 
with  the  table  as  though  forming  a  part  of  it. 

In  a  second  experiment  of  the  same  character  the 
balls  which,  at  the  commencement  of  the  phenomenon, 
easily  escaped  from  underneath  the  board,  were  replaced 
by  four  easily  moving  casters  attached  by  pivots  to  the 
four  corners  of  the  board,  which  gave  greater  stability 
to  the  apparatus  without  making  the  movements  more 
difficult.  The  result  was  the  same  as  in  the  preceding 
case. 

(b)  Raising  of  the  table  with  three  halls  o?"  four  casters, 
and  a  board  interposed  between  the  table  and  the  hands  of 
the  medium. — This  phenomenon,  already  obtained  in  the 
first  experiment,  was  repeated  Avith  the  board  on  casters 
in  the  conditions  already  detailed.  The  table  was  com- 
pletely raised  ou  the  side  of  the  medium  and  under  her 
hands,  together  with  the  board  on  balls  or  on  casters,  to 
a  height  of  four  to  six  inches  without  any  displacement  of 
the  board,  and  fell  back  with  it. 

By  means  of  this  experiment  we  obtained  indisput- 
able proof  that  lateral  and  vertical  movements  of  the  table 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES    399 

could  be  obtained  independently  of  any  effort  of  the 
medium's  hands.  In  this  case  surveillance  was  only  exer- 
cised on  the  medium's  hands ;  the  table  had  several  people 
around  it,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  verify  if  there  had  been 
contact  between  the  feet  of  the  table  and  the  medium's 
dress,  which  in  other  experiments  seemed  to  be  an  essen- 
tial condition  of  success.  The  same  remark  applies  to  the 
experiment  reported  a  little  later  on  under  section  3. 

In  order  to  remove  all  reason  for  doubt,  we  had 
arranged  a  piece  of  cardboard  cylindrically  around  the 
medium  and  her  chair,  so  as  to  protect  her  from  all 
external  contact  up  to  a  height  of  two  feet  from  the  floor. 
The  niedium  had  scarcely  seen  it,  when  she  declared  that 
to  keep  her  enclosed  in  that  would  take  away  all  her 
power.  Therefore  we  were  compelled  to  abandon  it. 
Once  only  was  it  used,  but  in  such  circumstances  as  made 
it  almost  superfluous. 

3.  Movements  of  objects  at  a  distance  without  contact 
with  any  of  the  persons  present. 

(a)  Spontaneous  movements  of  objects. — These  pheno- 
mena have  been  observed  on  several  occasions  during  our 
seances ;  frequently  a  chair  placed  not  far  from  the  table, 
between  the  medium  and  one  of  her  neighbours,  began  to 
move  and  sometimes  approached  the  table.  A  remark- 
able instance  occurred  during  the  second  seance,  in  full 
light :  a  heavy  chair,  which  was  not  far  from  the  table  and 
behind  the  medium  was  displaced.  M.  Schiaparelli,  who 
was  close  to  the  medium,  rose  and  put  it  back  into  its 
place,  but  he  had  scarcely  sat  down  again  when  the  chair 
came  toAvards  him  a  second  time. 

(6)  Movements  of  the  table  without  contact. — It  was 
desired  to  obtain  this  phenomenon  by  way  of  experiment. 
For  that  purpose  the  table  was  placed  on  casters.  The 
medium's  feet  were  controlled  as  stated  in  number  2, 
and  all  present  formed  the  chain  with  their  hands  and 
those  of  the  medium.  When  the  table  began  to  move, 
we  all  raised  our  hands  without  breaking  the  chain,  and 
the  table,  beins:  isolated,  made  several  movements  as  in 


400  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  second  experiment.     This  experiment  was  repeated 
several  times. 

(c)  Movements  of  the  arms  of  the  rocking  balance. — 
This  experiment  was  made  for  the  first  time  in  the  seance 
of  September  21st.  After  having  made  certain  of  the 
weight  that  the  medium's  body  exercised  on  the  balance 
while  she  remained  seated,  it  was  interesting  to  see  if  this 
experiment  would  be  successful  at  a  distance ;  for  this 
purpose  the  balance  was  placed  behind  the  medium's  back 
as  she  was  seated  at  the  table,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
platform  was  about  four  inches  from  her  chair.  We  first 
of  all  placed  the  edge  of  her  dress  in  contact  with  the 
platform,  and  the  lever  then  began  to  move.  M.  Brofferio 
stooped  down  on  the  ground  and  lifted  up  the  edge  with 
his  hand,  he  found  it  was  not  quite  straight  and  resumed 
his  place ;  the  movements  continued  with  a  fair  degree 
of  force.  M.  Aksakof  placed  himself  behind  the  medium, 
completely  isolated  the  platform  from  her  gown,  folded 
the  latter  under  her  chair,  and  by  means  of  his  hand 
assured  himself  that  the  space  between  the  platform  and 
the  chair  was  quite  free,  as  he  at  once  informed  us.  While 
he  was  in  this  position  the  lever  continued  to  move,  and 
to  beat  against  the  cross-bar,  as  we  both  saw  and  heard. 
The  same  experiment  was  made  a  second  time  on  Sep- 
tember 26th,  in  the  presence  of  Professor  Richet.  He 
immediately  left  his  place  by  the  side  of  the  medium,  and 
he  assured  himself  by  passing  his  hand  in  the  air,  and  on 
the  ground  between  the  medium  and  the  platform,  that 
the  space  was  free  from  all  means  of  communication  by  a 
thread  or  any  other  artifice. 

(d)  Blows  and  reproductions  of  sounds  in  the  table. 
— These  blows  are  always  produced  during  our  seances  in 
order  to  express  "  yes  "  or  "  no,"  sometimes  they  are  strong 
and  clear  and  seem  to  sound  within  the  wood  of  the  table  ; 
but,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  localisation  of  the  sound  is 
not  an  easy  matter,  and  we  wore  not  able  to  try  any  experi- 
ment on  this  point,  with  the  exception  of  rhythmic  blows 
or  various  rubbings  which  we  made  on  the  table,  and  which 
seemed  to  bo  reproduced,  though  feebly,  in  the  interior  of 
the  table. 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     401 


II 

Phenomena  Observed  in  Darkness 

The  phenomena  observed  in  complete  darkness  were 
produced  while  we  were  all  seated  around  the  table.  The 
medium's  hands  and  feet  were  held  by  her  two  neighbours. 
It  invariably  happened  that  there  was  not  much  delay  in 
the  production  of  the  most  varied  and  singular  phenomena 
which  we  should  have  desired  to  observe  in  full  light. 
The  darkness  evidently  increased  the  facility  of  these 
manifestations,  which  we  may  class  as  under : — 

1.  Knocks  on  the  table,  undoubtedly  stronger  than 
those  heard  in  full  light  under  or  in  the  table.  A  loud 
noise  like  that  of  a  heavy  blow  of  the  fist  or  a  slap  on  the 
table. 

2.  Blows  and  raps  on  the  chairs  of  the  medium's 
neighbours,  sometimes  so  strong  as  to  make  the  chair  and 
the  person  turn  round.  Sometimes  when  the  person  rose 
his  chair  would  be  withdrawn. 

3.  Transporting  of  various  objects  on  to  the  table,  such 
as  chairs  and  clothing  and  sometimes  other  things,  carried 
several  yards  and  weighing  several  pounds. 

4.  Transporting  in  the  air  of  various  objects,  musical 
instruments,  for  example,  percussions  and  sounds  produced 
by  these  objects. 

b.  Transporting  of  the  medium  on  to  the  table,  with  the 
chair  on  which  she  was  seated. 

6.  Appearance  of  phosphorescent  points  of  very  short 
duration  and  of  lights,  particularly  of  luminous  discs, 
which  were  often  duplicated,  for  an  equal  though  very 
short  length  of  time. 

7.  Noise  of  two  hands  clapping  together  in  the  air. 

8.  Breath  of  air  like  a  light  wind  limited  to  a  small 
space. 

9.  Touchings  produced  by  a  mysterious  hand,  some- 
times on  parts  of  the  body,  sometimes  on.  the  naked  flesh  ; 

2c 


102  PSYX'HICAL   PHENOMENA 

and,  in  the  last  instance,  we  experienced  precisely  the 
same  sensation  of  contact  and  of  heat  as  would  be  pro- 
duced by  a  human  hand.  Sometimes  these  touchings 
produced  a  corresponding  sound. 

10.  Vision  of  one  or  two  hands  projected  on  a  phos- 
phorescent paper  or  on  a  feebly  lighted  window. 

11.  Various  work  executed  by  the  hands;  knots  tied 
and  untied,  pencil  -  marks  left  on  a  sheet  of  paper  or 
elsewhere.  Imprints  of  these  hands  on  a  sheet  of  blackened 
paper. 

12.  Contact  of  our  hands  with  a  mysterious  figure, 
which  was  certainly  not  that  of  the  medium. 

All  those  who  deny  the  possibility  of  the  pheno- 
mena try  to  explain  these  facts  by  supposing  that  the 
medium  has  the  faculty  of  seeing  in  the  complete  dark- 
ness in  which  the  experiments  are  made,  and  that,  by  a 
clever  trick,  she  is  able  by  moving  about  in  the  dark  to 
make  her  two  neighbours  hold  the  same  hand,  leaving  the 
other  free  for  the  production  of  the  touchings.  Those 
of  us  who  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  Eusapia's  hands 
are  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  it  was  not  easy  to  keep 
watch  over  them  and  be  sure  at  all  times  where  they 
were.  At  the  time  when  some  important  phenomenon 
was  about  to  be  produced  she  would  begin  to  move  the 
whole  of  her  body,  twisting  about  and  trying  to  free  her 
hands,  particularly  the  right,  as  though  the  contact  annoyed 
her.  In  order  to  maintain  their  continuous  supervision 
her  neighbours  were  obliged  to  follow  all  the  movements  of 
the  fugitive  hand,  during  which  operation  it  was  not  rare 
to  lose  the  contact  for  several  moments,  just  at  the  time 
where  it  was  more  desirable  to  be  quite  sure  of  it.  It  was 
then  not  easy  to  know  whether  the  right  or  the  left  hand 
of  the  medium  was  being  held. 

For  these  reasons  many  of  the  very  numerous  mani- 
festations observed  in  the  darkness  were  regarded  as 
insutHciently  demonstrative  in  value  although  in  reality 
probable ;  therefore  we  will  pass  them  over,  dwelling  only 
on  some  cases  concerning  which  there  can  be  no  doubt 
either  as  to  the  certainty  of  the  control  exercised  or  as  to 


THE   LONDON    AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     403 

the  manifest  impossibility  of  their  being  the  work  of  the 
medium. 

(a)  Apiwrts  of  different  objects  while  the  mediuiiis 
hands  were  tied  to  those  of  her  neighbour's. — In  order  to 
assure  ourselves  that  we  were  not  the  victims  of  an 
illusion,  we  attached  the  hands  of  the  medium  to  those 
of  her  neighbours  by  means  of  a  single  cord  about  one- 
tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
four  hands  controlled  each  other.  The  length  of  the  cord 
between  the  medium's  hands  was  from  eight  to  twelve 
inches,  and  between  the  medium's  hands  and  those  of 
her  neighbour  about  four  inches,  only  a  small  space  being 
left  so  that  the  hands  of  those  next  to  the  medium  could 
also  hold  the  medium's  hands  during  her  convulsive 
movements. 

The  connection  was  made  in  the  following  manner. 
The  string  was  wound  tightly  three  times  round  each  of 
the  medium's  wrists  without  leaving  any  play,  so  tight 
indeed  as  almost  to  hurt  her,  and  then  tied  with  two  single 
knots.  This  was  done  so  that  if  by  any  trick  she  could 
free  her  hand — the  fact  of  its  being  wound  round  three 
times  would  at  once  prevent  her  from  replacing  her  hand 
in  the  original  manner. 

A  bell  was  placed  on  a  chair  to  the  right  of  the  medium. 
The  chain  was  formed,  the  medium's  hands  were  held  as 
usual,  as  well  as  her  feet ;  the  room  was  placed  in  dark- 
ness, the  desire  being  expressed  that  the  bell  should  imme- 
diately ring,  after  which  we  proposed  to  release  the  medium. 
Immediately  we  heard  the  chair  turn  over,  describe  a 
curve  on  the  floor,  go  towards  the  table,  and  soon  place 
itself  upon  it.  The  bell  rang,  and  vms  then  projected  on 
to  the  table.  The  light  Avas  quickly  turned  up,  and  we 
saw  that  the  knots  were  in  perfect  order.  It  is  evident 
that  the  movement  of  the  chair  could  not  have  been 
produced  by  means  of  the  medium's  hands  during  this 
experiment,  which  only  lasted  ten  minutes  altogether. 

(6)  iTTiprints  of  fingers  obtained  on  paper. — In  order 
to  assure  ourselves  that  we  had  really  to  do  with  a  human 
hand,  we  fixed  on  the  table,  on  the  opposite  side  to  the 


404  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

medium,  a  sheet  of  paper  blackened  with  smoke,  and 
expressed  the  desire  that  the  hand  should  leave  an 
imprint  on  it,  that  the  hand  of  the  medium  should 
remain  in  its  place,  and  the  black  should  remain  on  our 
hands. 

The  medium's  hands  were  held  by  those  of  MM. 
Schiaparelli  and  Du  Prel.  The  chain  was  formed  and  the 
room  darkened.  We  then  heard  a  hand  knock  lightly  on 
the  table,  and  M.  Du  Prel  immediately  stated  that  his  left 
hand,  which  was  held  by  M.  Finzi's  right  hand,  had  felt 
some  fingers  rubbing  it. 

Having  turned  up  the  light  we  found  several  imprints 
of  fingers  on  the  paper,  and  the  back  of  M.  Du  Prel's 
hand  was  blackened,  while  the  medium's  hands  on  being 
immediately  examined  bore  no  trace  of  black.  This 
experiment  was  repeated  three  times.  As  we  insisted 
upon  having  a  complete  print,  on  a  second  sheet  we 
obtained  five  fingers,  and  on  a  third  the  almost  complete 
impression  of  a  left  hand.  After  that  the  back  of  M.  Du 
Prel's  hand  was  completely  blackened  and  the  medium's 
hands  perfectly  clean. 

(c)  Ap'pearance  of  hands  on  a  slightly  illuminated 
background. — We  placed  on  the  table  a  card  coated  with 
a  phosphorescent  substance  (sulphide  of  calcium),  and 
other  cards  on  chairs  in  different  parts  of  the  room.  In 
these  circumstances  we  clearly  saw  the  outline  of  a  hand 
placed  on  the  card  on  the  table,  and  on  the  background 
formed  by  the  other  cards  we  saw  the  shadow  of  a  hand 
passing  and  repassing  around  us. 

On  the  evening  of  September  21st,  we  saw  on  several 
occasions  not  only  one  but  two  hands  at  a  time  projected 
against  the  feeble  light — a  window  closed  only  by  curtains 
(it  was  night  outside,  but  not  absolute  darkness). 

These  hands  moved  rapidly — not,  however,  too  quickly 
for  us  to  be  able  to  distinguish  the  outline  clearly.  They 
were  completely  opaque,  and  were  projected  against  the 
window  as  absolutely  black  outlines.  It  was  not  possible 
for  the  observers  to  come  to  a  decision  as  to  the  arms  to 
which  these  hands  were  attached,  because  only  a  small 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     405 

part  of  the  arms  near  the  wrists  was  seen  m  the  feeble 
light  from  the  window,  from  our  point  of  observation. 

These  phenomena  of  the  simultaneous  appearance  of 
the  two  hands  are  very  significant,  because  they  cannot 
be  explained  by  the  hypothesis  of  trickery  on  the  part  of 
the  medium,  who  could  not  in  any  way  free  more  than 
one  hand,  thanks  to  the  surveillance  of  her  neighbours. 
The  same  remark  applies  to  the  clapping  of  two  hands  in 
the  air  which  was  heard  several  times  during  the  course 
of  our  experiments. 

(d)  liaising  of  the  medium  on  to  the  table. — We 
place  this  raising  among  the  most  important  and  most 
significant  facts.  It  was  twice  effected,  on  September  23rd 
and  October  3rd.  The  medium,  who  was  seated  at  one 
end  of  the  table,  while  groaning  loudly,  was  raised  with 
her  chair  and  placed  with  it  on  the  table,  seated  in  the 
same  position,  her  hands  being  all  the  time  held,  and 
accompanied  by  her  neighbours. 

On  the  evening  of  September  28th  the  medium,  while 
her  two  hands  were  held  by  Professors  Richet  and  Lom- 
broso,  complained  that  hands  were  seizing  her  under  her 
arms ;  then,  in  a  state  of  trance,  she  said  in  the  changed 
voice  usual  to  that  condition :  "  Noav,  I  bring  my  medium 
on  to  the  table." 

At  the  end  of  two  or  three  seconds  the  chair,  with  the 
medium  who  was  seated  on  it,  was  not  thrown  but  care- 
fully raised  and  placed  on  the  table,  and  Professors  Richet 
and  Lombroso  are  sure  that  they  did  not  in  any  way  assist 
this  lifting  by  their  own  efforts.  After  having  spoken, 
still  in  a  trance  condition,  the  medium  announced  her 
descent ;  M.  Finzi  was  substituted  for  Professor  Lombroso, 
and  the  medium  was  set  down  on  the  ground  with  the 
same  care  and  precision,  MM.  Richet  and  Finzi  accom- 
panying, but  without  assisting  in  any  way,  the  movements 
of  the  hands  and  body,  and  questioning  each  other  every 
moment  as  to  the  position  of  the  hands. 

Moreover,  during  the  descent,  they  both  felt  several 
times  a  hand  which  touched  them  lightly  on  the  head. 
On  the  evenmg  of  October  3rd,  the  same  phenomenon  was 


406  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

repeated  in  very  similar  circumstances,  MM.  Du  Prel  and 
Finzi  being  by  the  side  of  the  medium. 

(e)  Touchings. — Some  of  these  deserve  to  be  particu- 
larly noted,  because  of  a  circumstance  which  may  furnish 
an  interesting  idea  as  to  their  possible  origin ;  and  first 
of  all  we  must  notice  the  touchings  which  were  felt  b}' 
persons  outside  the  reach  of  the  medium's  hands. 

Thus  on  the  evening  of  October  6th,  M.  Gerosa,  who  was 
three  places  away  from  the  medium  (about  a  yard  and 
a  half,  the  medium  being  at  one  end  of  the  table  and 
M.  Gerosa  at  one  of  the  corners  next  to  the  opposite  end), 
having  raised  his  hand  in  order  that  it  might  be  touched, 
felt  several  times  a  hand  which  struck  his  as  though  to  lower 
it,  and,  as  he  persisted,  he  was  struck  with  a  trumpet,  which 
a  short  time  previously  had  been  sounding  in  the  air. 

In  the  second  place,  we  must  note  certain  delicate 
touchings  which  no  one  could  perform  in  the  darkness 
with  the  observed  precision. 

Twice  (September  16th  and  21st)  M.  Schiaparelli's 
glasses  were  taken  off"  and  placed  on  the  table  in  front  of  some 
one  else.  These  glasses  were  fixed  to  the  eyes  by  means  of 
two  springs,  and  considerable  attention  was  necessary  to 
take  them  off,  even  if  done  in  full  light.  They  were, 
however,  taken  off  in  complete  darkness  with  so  much 
delicacy  and  quickness  that  the  experimenter  only  knew 
that  he  no  longer  felt  the  usual  contact  of  the  glasses 
against  his  nose,  temples,  and  ears,  and  he  had  to  feel  with 
his  hands  in  order  to  make  sure  that  they  were  no  longer 
in  their  usual  place. 

Similar  effects  resulted  from  many  other  touchings 
which  were  executed  with  great  delicacy — for  example 
when  one  of  the  spectators  felt  his  hair  and  board  stroked. 

In  all  the  innumerable  manoeuvres  executed  by  the 
mysterious  hands,  we  never  noticed  any  clumsiness  or 
shock,  such  as  inevitably  happens  when  one  works  in 
the  dark. 

The  darkness  was,  in  the  majority  of  cases  (with  one 
or  two  exceptions  already  mentioned),  as  complete  as  pos- 
sible, and  it  must  be  admitted  that  neither  the  medium 


THE    LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     407 

nor  any  one  else  could  see,  even  vaguely  or  confusedly, 
the  profiles  of  the  persons  seated  around  the  table. 

We  may  add,  with  regard  to  this,  that  heavy  and 
bulky  objects,  such  as  chairs  and  pots  full  of  clay,  were 
placed  on  the  table  without  ever  touching  any  of  the 
numerous  hands  placed  on  the  table;  and  this  was  par- 
ticularly difficult  in  the  case  of  the  chairs,  which  were  so 
large  as  to  occupy  the  greater  part  of  the  table.  One 
chair  was  turned  over  forwards  before  being  placed  on 
the  table,  and  placed  lengthways  without  injuring  any- 
one, in  such  a  manner  that  it  took  up  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  table. 

(/)  Contacts  with  a  human  face. — One  of  us,  having 
expressed  the  desire  to  be  kissed,  felt  in  front  of  his  mouth 
the  rapid  noise  of  a  kiss,  but  it  was  not  accompanied  by 
the  contact  of  lips ;  this  happened  on  two  occasions 
(September  21st  and  October  1st).  On  three  different  occa- 
sions one  of  those  present  touched  a  human  face  with 
hair  and  beard ;  the  contact  of  the  skin  was  absolutely 
like  that  of  a  living  face,  the  hair  was  much  more 
harsh  and  bristly  than  that  of  the  medium,  while  the 
beard,  on  the  contrary,  appeared  to  be  very  fine  (October 
1st  and  6th). 

((/)  Sounds  from  the  tricm^yet. — On  the  evening  of 
October  6th,  we  had  placed  a  trumpet  behind  the  medium 
and  behmd  the  curtain.  Suddenly  we  heard  several  notes 
sounded  behind  our  heads.  Those  who  were  by  the  side 
of  the  medium  were  able  to  assure  themselves  that  the 
sound  did  not  come  from  their  direction.  The  trumpet 
was  found  to  be  transported  to  the  table,  on  the  side 
opposite  to  the  medium. 

(/i)  Experiments  of  Zollner  on  the  penetration  of  a 
solid  through  another  solid. — We  know  the  celebrated 
experiments  by  which  the  astronomer  Zollner  tried  to 
prove  experimentally  the  existence  of  a  fourth  dimension 
of  space,  which,  from  his  point  of  view,  would  have  served 
as  the  base  of  an  acceptable  theory  for  many  mediumistic 
phenomena. 

Although  we  well  knew  that,  according  to  a  widespread 


408  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

opinion,  Zollner  was  the  victim  of  a  very  skilful  hoax, 
we  considered  it  very  important  to  try  a  portion  of  his 
experiments  with  the  assistance  of  Mme.  Eusapia.  If 
only  one  of  them  had  succeeded,  when  undertaken  with 
the  necessary  precautions,  we  should  have  been  compen- 
sated with  interest  for  all  our  trouble,  and  we  should 
have  received  manifest  proof  of  the  reality  of  mediumistic 
facts,  even  in  the  eyes  of  the  most  obstinate  opponents. 
We  tried  successively  three  of  the  experiments  of  Zollner, 
viz. : — 

1.  The  interlinking  of  two  solid  rings  (wood  or  card- 
board) previously  separate. 

2.  The  formation  of  a  single  knot  in  an  endless  cord. 

3.  The  penetration  of  a  solid  object  from  the  outside 
into  the  interior  of  a  closed  box,  the  key  of  which  was 
carefully  guarded. 

None  of  these  attempts  were  successful.  It  was  the 
same  with  another  experiment  which  would  have  been 
equally  conclusive,  that  of  taking  a  mould  of  the  mys- 
terious hand  in  melted  paraffin. 

Only  one  fact,  which  if  it  was  certain  could  be  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  this  category,  was  produced  in  the 
seance  of  September  21st,  but  unfortunately  without  our 
being  previously  informed;  there  was  therefore  lacking, 
when  the  phenomenon  took  place,  that  continued  super- 
vision which  is  more  than  necessary.  One  of  us  having 
at  the  commencement  of  the  seance  placed  his  overcoat 
on  a  chair,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  medium,  we  saw,  at 
the  end  of  the  seance,  various  articles  brought  on  to  a 
phosphorescent  card  placed  on  the  table,  which  articles 
the  owner  of  the  overcoat  immediately  recognised  as 
coming  from  an  inside  pocket  of  this  garment ;  then  the 
medium  began  to  moan,  complaining  that  something  had 
been  put  round  her  neck  and  was  strangling  her. 

When  the  light  was  turned  up  we  found  that  the  over- 
coat had  been  moved  from  its  original  place,  but  on  giving 
our  attention  to  the  medium,  who  was  distracted  and  in  a 
bad  temper,  we  saw  that  she  had  the  coat  in  question  on 
her  back  and  that  her  two  arms  were   in   the  sleeves. 


THE   LONDON   AND   MILAN   COMMITTEES     409 

Throughout  the  seauce  her  hands  and  feet  had  been  as 
usual  under  the  control  of  her  two  neighbours. 

We  know  how  on  such  an  occasion  more  than  on  any 
other,  confidence  in  the  production  of  such  a  remarkable 
phenomenon  depends  entirely  on  the  certainty  and  con- 
tinuity of  the  control  of  the  two  hands;  but,  as  the 
phenomenon  was  quite  unexpected,  the  attention  of  the 
medium's  neighbours  could  not  have  been  centred  con- 
tinually on  exercising  this  supervision.  These  two  ex- 
perimenters declared  that  they  did  not  believe  that  they 
had  loosed  hold  of  her  hands ;  but  not  having  (because 
of  all  the  distractions  caused  by  the  phenomena  pro- 
duced) kept  their  attention  fixed  solely  on  this  point, 
it  must  be  admitted  to  be  possible  (but  not  probable) 
that  they  momentarily  liberated  the  medium  without 
knowing  it. 

Phenomena  previously  observed  in  darkness  after- 
wards obtained  in  light  with  the  medium  in  view. — 
It  remained  for  us,  in  order  to  secure  conclusive  evidence, 
to  try  to  obtain  the  important  phenomena  occurring  in 
darkness  without  losing  sight  of  the  medium.  Since 
darkness  is,  as  it  seems,  so  favourable  for  their  mani- 
festation, it  is  necessary  to  leave  the  darkness  for  the 
phenomena — keep  the  light  for  ourselves  and  the  medium. 
In  order  to  do  that  we  proceeded  as  follows  in  the  seance 
of  October  6th :  one  portion  of  the  room  was  separated 
from  the  other  by  means  of  a  curtain,  in  order  that  it 
might  remain  in  darkness,  and  the  medium  was  placed 
seated  on  a  chair  before  the  opening  of  the  curtain,  with 
her  back  in  the  darkened  part ;  her  arms,  hands,  face,  and 
feet  were  in  the  lighted  part  of  the  room. 

Behind  the  curtain  we  placed  a  small  chair  with  a 
bell,  about  half  a  yard  or  less  from  the  medium,  and  on 
another  chair,  farther  away,  we  placed  a  vase  full  of  moist 
clay,  perfectly  level  at  the  top.  In  the  lighted  part  we 
formed  a  circle  around  the  table  which  Avas  placed  in 
front  of  the  medium.  Her  hands  were  all  the  time  held 
by  MM.  Schiaparelli  and  Du  Prel.  The  room  was  lighted 
by  means  of  a  lantern  with  red  glasses,  placed  on  another 


410  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

table.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the  medium  was 
subjected  to  these  conditions. 

The  phenomena  soon  commenced.  By  means  of  the 
light  of  a  candle  without  red  glass  we  saw  the  curtain 
swell  out  towards  us ;  the  medium's  neighbours,  holding 
their  hands  against  the  curtain,  felt  a  resistance.  The 
chair  of  one  of  them  was  violently  drawn  away,  then 
five  raps  were  given,  which  signified  that  less  light  was 
asked  for. 

Then  we  lit  the  red  lantern,  which  we  also  partially 
shaded  with  a  screen,  but  we  shortly  afterwards  removed 
this,  previously  placing  the  lamp  on  our  table  in  front  of 
the  medium.  The  edges  of  the  opening  of  the  curtain 
were  fixed  to  the  corners  of  the  table,  and,  at  the  request 
of  the  medium,  folded  back  over  her  head  and  fastened 
with  pins ;  then  something  began  to  appear  on  the 
medium's  head  on  several  occasions.  M.  Aksakof  rose, 
put  his  hand  in  the  opening  of  the  curtain  over  the 
medium's  head,  and  immediately  stated  that  fingers  had 
several  times  touched  him ;  then  his  hand  was  drawn 
through  the  curtain ;  finally,  he  felt  that  something  was 
pushing  away  his  hand — it  was  the  small  chair ;  he  took 
hold  of  it,  then  the  chair  was  taken  from  him  again  and 
fell  on  to  the  floor.  All  present  put  their  hands  in  the 
opening,  and  felt  the  contact  of  hands.  In  the  dark 
background  of  this  openmg,  over  the  medium's  head, 
blue  lights  appeared  several  times ;  M.  Schiaparelli  was 
vigorously  touched  through  the  curtain  on  the  back  and 
side.  His  head  was  covered  and  drawn  into  the  dark  part, 
while  with  his  left  hand  he  all  the  time  retained  hold  of 
the  medium's  right,  and  with  his  right  hand  of  M.  Finzi's 
left. 

In  this  position  he  felt  himself  touched  by  naked, 
warm  fingers,  saw  lights  describing  curves  in  the  air  and 
illuminating  a  little  the  hand  or  the  body  to  which  they 
belonged.  Then  he  resumed  his  place,  and  a  hand  began 
to  appear  at  the  opening  without  being  withdrawn  so 
quickly,  and  consequently  was  more  distinctly  soon.  The 
medium    not   having  yet  seen  this,  raised  her  head  to 


THE   LONDON    AND   MILAN    COMMITTEES     411 

look  at  it,  and  immediately  the  hand  touched  her  face, 
M.  Du  Prel,  without  loosing  hold  of  the  medium's  hand, 
put  his  head  in  the  opening  over  the  medium's  head,  and 
immediately  felt  himself  strongly  touched  in  different 
parts  by  several  fingers.  The  head  again  showed  itself 
between  the  two  heads. 

M.  Du  Prel  went  back  to  his  place,  and  M.  Aksakof 
held  a  pencil  in  the  opening — the  hand  took  hold  of  the 
pencil  and  did  not  let  it  fall ;  then,  shortly  afterwards,  it 
was  thrown  through  the  opening  on  to  the  table. 

A  closed  fist  once  appeared  on  the  medium's  head ; 
then,  afterwards,  the  open  hand  slowly  came  into  view, 
with  the  fingers  held  apart. 

It  is  impossible  to  count  the  number  of  times  that  this 
hand  appeared  and  was  touched  by  one  of  us :  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  doubt  was  no  longer  possible.  It  was 
certainly  a  human  and  living  hand  which  we  saw  and 
touched,  while  at  the  same  time  the  bust  and  arms  of  the 
medium  remained  visible  and  her  hands  were  held  by  her 
two  neighbours.  At  the  end  of  the  seance  M.  Du  Prel  was 
the  first  to  pass  into  the  darkened  part,  and  told  us  that 
there  was  an  impression  in  the  clay — in  fact,  we  found 
that  this  was  put  out  of  shape  by  a  deep  scratching  of 
five  fingers  belonging  to  a  right  hand  (which  explains  the 
fact  that  a  portion  of  clay  had  been  thrown  on  to  the 
table,  through  the  opening  of  the  curtain  towards  the  end 
of  the  seance),  a  permanent  proof  that  we  had  not  been 
hallucinated. 

These  facts  were  repeated  several  times,  under  the 
same  or  a  slightly  different  form,  on  the  evenings  of 
October  9th,  13th,  15th,  17th,  and  18th.  The  position  of 
the  mysterious  hand  often  did  not  allow  us  to  suppose  that 
it  belonged  to  the  medium  ;  however,  for  greater  certainty, 
on  the  evening  of  the  15th  we  attached  a  rubber-band  to 
her  left  hand,  wrapping  it  round  each  of  the  fingers 
separately.  This  enabled  us  at  any  moment  to  distinguish 
which  of  the  two  hands  was  in  charge  of  her  neighbours. 

Apparitions  again  took  place  on  the  15th,  and  finally 
on  the    18th  (although  with   less   intensity),  under   the 


412  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

rigorous  control,  solemnly  attested  by  them,  of  MM.  Kichet 
and  Scliiaparelli ;  both  gave  special  attention  to  this  part 
of  our  experiments.  These  conditions  were  this  time,  as 
always,  somewhat  difficult  to  realise,  because  the  medium 
continually  moved  her  hands,  and  instead  of  holding 
them  on  the  table  in  front  of  us,  held  them  down  on 
her  knees. 

Conclusion 

Thus,  therefore,  all  the  marvellous  phenomena  which 
we  observed  in  complete  or  almost  complete  darkness 
(chairs,  with  the  persons  seated  on  them,  forcibly  drawn 
back,  touchings  of  hands,  lights,  imprints  of  fingers,  &c.) 
have  also  been  obtained  without  losing  sight  of  the  medium, 
even  for  a  moment.  In  that  respect  the  seance  of 
October  6th  was  for  us  certain  and  absolute  evidence  of 
the  correctness  of  our  former  observations  in  the  dark. 
It  was  an  incontestable  proof  that,  in  order  to  explain 
the  phenomena  occurring  in  complete  darkness,  it  is  not 
absolutely  necessary  to  suppose  trickery  on  the  part  of 
the  medium  or  illusion  on  our  part ;  it  was  proof  to  us 
that  these  phenomena  may  result  from  a  cause  identical 
with  that  which  produces  them  when  the  medium  is 
visible,  with  sufficient  light  to  verify  her  position  and 
movements. 

In  publishing  this  short  and  incomplete  report  of  our 
experiments,  it  is  also  our  duty  to  say  that  our  convictions 
are  as  follows : — 

1.  That,  in  the  circumstances  given,  none  of  the  pheno- 
mena obtained  in  more  or  less  intense  light  could  have 
been  produced  by  the  aid  of  any  artifice  whatever. 

2.  That  the  same  opinion  may  be  affirmed  hi  a  large 
measure  with  regard  to  the  phenomena  obtained  in  com- 
plete darkness.  For  some  of  them  we  can  well  admit, 
strictly  speaking,  the  possibility  of  imitating  them  by 
means  of  some  adroit  artifice  on  the  part  of  the  medium ; 
nevertheless,  according  to  what  we  have  said,  it  is  evident 
that  this  hypothesis  would  bo  not  only  improbable,  but 
even  useless  in  the  present  case,  since,  even  admittmg  it, 


THE   LONDON   AND  MILAN   COMMITTEES     413 

the  assembly  of  facts  clearly  proved  would  not  be  invali- 
dated by  it. 

We  recognise,  however,  that  from  the  point  of  view  of 
exact  science  our  experiments  leave  much  to  be  desired ; 
they  were  undertaken  without  our  knowing  what  we 
required,  and  the  various  apparatus  that  we  used  had  to 
be  prepared  and  improvised  by  MM.  Finzi,  Gerosa,  and 
Ermacora. 

Nevertheless,  what  we  have  seen  and  ascertained  is 
sufficient  to  prove  to  us  that  these  phenomena  are  well 
worthy  the  attention  of  scientists. 

We  consider  it  our  duty  to  publicly  express  our 
gratitude  and  acknowledgments  to  M.  D.  Ericole  Chiaia, 
who  for  many  years  with  zeal  and  patience,  and  despite 
clamour  and  vilification,  has  followed  the  development 
of  the  mediumistic  faculty  of  this  remarkable  subject,  by 
calling  the  attention  of  students  to  her — having  but  one 
end  in  view,  the  triumph  of  an  unpopular  truth. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

PHENOMENA   OF   MOTRICITY 

Study  and  Experiments 

We  now  come  to  the  phenomena  of  motricity,  or  of  move- 
ment of  objects  without  contact.  This  phenomenon  is 
one  of  the  most  difficult  of  acceptance  in  the  present 
condition  of  science. 

It  seems,  in  fact,  that  the  phenomenon  in  question 
must  be  in  opposition  to  the  known  laws  of  physics  and 
mechanics.  Let  us  observe  first  of  all,  however,  that  it 
presents  no  absurdity ;  that  is  to  say,  that  it  is  not  in  con- 
tradiction to  any  of  the  laws  which  have  been  recognised 
as  necessary,  the  geometrical  or  mathematical  laws. 

Physics  at  the  present  day  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
physics  of  a  hundred  years  ago.  There  are  many  facts 
now  recognised  which  our  fathers  would  have  described 
as  impossible  and  contrary  to  the  natural  laws  of  physics, 
because  they  had  not  our  knowledge  of  electricity  or  of 
photography. 

If  a  hundred  years  ago  a  scientist  had  been  invited  to 
hear  at  Paris  a  lecture  delivered  in  Berlin,  he  would  have 
taken  the  proposer  for  a  madman,  or  else  he  would  have 
thought  that  he  was  making  fun  of  him,  and  would  not 
have  gone  a  step  out  of  his  way  to  test  what  he  would 
have  declared  beforehand  to  be  absurd  and  impossible. 

If  it  had  been  insisted  upon,  if  a  large  number  of 
persons  apparently  sincere  had  assured  him  that  they 
had  heard  in  Paris  what  had  been  said  in  Berlin,  he  would 
have  replied :  "Since  sound  only  travels  about  1115  feet 
a  second,  supposing  that  you  have  sufficiently  acute 
hearing  to  hear  in  Paris  words  uttered  in  Berlin,  you  can 
calculate  the  time  taken  before  these  words  could  reach 

414 


PHENOMENA   OF  .MOTRICITY  415 

you ;  it  is  therefore  impossible  for  you  to  hear  in  Paris 
a  lecture  at  the  very  moment  it  is  delivered  in  Berlin." 

This  is  what  our  scientist  would  have  said  a  hundred 
years  ago  on  the  basis  of  the  known  laws  of  physics.  In 
our  days  there  is  not  a  pupil  of  the  fourth  standard  who 
would  be  justified  in  being  ignorant  of  the  telephone. 

This  same  scientist  would  have  enclosed  various  objects 
in  a  locked  wooden  box,  put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  and 
defied  you  to  describe  the  objects  enclosed  in  the  box. 
He  would  have  had  no  hesitation  in  oftering  a  prize  of  a 
thousand  francs  to  any  one  who  could  see  such  articles 
and  describe  them.  And  if  after  demanding  certain  con- 
ditions of  darkness  and  light  in  order  to  apply  a  radio- 
scope,  you  had  then  told  him  exactly  what  his  trunk 
contained,  he  would  not  have  hesitated  to  accuse  you  of 
having  obtained  the  result  by  surreptitious  methods,  by 
opening  the  trunk  with  a  false  key,  and  he  would  have 
remained  obstinate  in  his  conviction  that  nothing  could 
have  enabled  you  to  see  through  the  trunk. 

Let  us  suppose  now  that  this  scientist  wished  to  put  you 
to  the  proof,  and  had  enclosed  in  his  box  a  large  hat, 
challenging  you  to  say  what  it  contained.  With  your 
radioscope  you  could  easily  tell  him  the  number  of  pins 
on  the  hat,  and  describe  to  him  their  shape  and  exact 
position.  He  would  then  tell  you  that  since  you  could 
see  small  pins  through  wood,  you  ought  also  to  see  equally 
well  a  big  hat. 

In  all  this  would  not  the  absurdity  and  unreasonable 
pretensions  be  on  the  part  of  the  scientist  ? 

When  therefore  we  speak  of  setting  objects  in  motion 
without  contact,  many  scientists,  who  are  no  wiser  than  the 
scientist  of  the  last  century  whom  we  have  been  postulat- 
ing, tell  us, "  It  is  impossible — it  is  absurd."  But  that  does 
not  disturb  us  at  all,  and  we  continue  our  experiments  and 
observations  notwithstanding.  We  know"  well  that  within 
fifty  years  those  who  will  be  ridiculed,  those  who  will  be 
regarded  as  absurd,  will  be  the  very  scientists  of  the  present 
time  who  are  unwilling — I  do  not  say  to  admit,  but  to 
examine  and  study. 


416  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Things,  however,  are  beginning  to  alter;  a  Large 
number  of  scientists  are  observing  and  studying  instead 
of  denying. 

First  of  all,  several  persons  have  said :  mediums  who 
can  set  in  motion  large  objects  without  contact  are  very 
rare;  show  us  therefore  a  small  object  only — a  pencil, 
a  pen,  an  object  as  light  as  you  please — that  can  be  set  in 
motion  without  contact,  and  when  you  have  shown  us 
that  we  will  admit  this  mediumistic  force. 

In  fact,  if  it  is  demonstrated  that  there  exists  a  force 
capable  of  being  projected  from  the  human  body  and  of 
putting  any  small  object  in  motion  without  contact,  we 
only  need  to  assume  that  the  medium  is  a  being  endowed 
with  this  force  in  a  much  higher  degree  in  order  to  admit 
that  he  can  move  much  larger  objects  without  contact. 

As  the  result  of  much  research,.!  have  been  able  to 
give  this  demonstration  with  an  apparatus  I  have  in- 
vented for  that  purpose,  and  which  I  have  called  the 
"  Sthenometer." 

The  sthenometer  is  an  instrument  I  have  made  in  order  to 
demonstrate  the  presence  of  a  force  emanating  from  the  nervous 
system,  and  to  measure  this  force. 

It  is  sufficient  to  bring  the  hand  near  to  the  apparatus,  in  order 
to  see  the  needle  move  in  proportion  to  the  force  projected. 

This  force,  which  emanates  from  the  human  body,  appears  to 
be  the  same  as  the  force  projected  from  mediums,  which  has 
hitherto  been  so  difficult  to  demonstrate  and  study. 

A  point  of  special  interest  to  medical  men  is  that  this  force  is 
found  to  be  modified  in  various  maladies  of  the  nervous  system. 
The  observation  of  these  modifications  will  be  of  very  great  utility 
for  the  diagnosis,  prognosis,  and  treatment  of  these  illnesses. 

We  read  in  the  Journal  des  Pradiciens :  "  M.  Joire  has 
demonstrated  that  neither  sound,  heat,  light,  nor  electricity  can 
explain  this  displacement  of  the  needle,  which  always  moves  three 
or  four  minutes  after  the  hand  is  brought  close  to  it. 

"  These  experiments  have  been  repeated  by  M.  Joire  before  the 
Soci6t6  d'  Hypnologie  et  de  Psychologie,  at  Dr.  B^rillon's  Institut 
Psycho-Physiologiquo,  in  M.  Iluchard's  deimrtment  at  Necker. 
The  results  were  shown  to  be  quite  conclusive. 


PHENOMENA   OF   MOTRICITY  417 

"  Consequently,  it  is  proved  that  there  emanates  from  the  human 
body  something  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  and  which  is  perhaps 
capable  of  producing  luminous  phenomena,  and  more  certainly  the 
displacement  of  a  light  body  at  a  distance." 

The  following  are  the  different  observations  we  have  been 
able  to  furnish  with  regard  to  this  force  by  the  use  of  the 
sthenometer. 

When  the  hand  is  brought  close  to  the  apparatus  with  the 
fingers  extended,  opposite  to  the  point  of  the  needle  and  per- 
pendicularly to  its  direction,  we  notice,  after  a  few  moments,  a 
movement  of  the  needle,  generally  towards  the  hand. 

This  movement  takes  place  slowly,  progressively,  and  in  a  very 
characteristic  manner,  different  from  the  agitation  of  the  needle 
produced  by  shaking  the  apparatus. 


Fig.  10. 

The  movement  of  the  needle  is  sufficiently  considerable  to 
dispel  all  possibility  of  illusion.  It  is  not  a  displacement  of  a 
few  degrees  only,  but  is  often  observed  to  the  extent  of  20,  30, 
and  40  degrees. 

If  the  displacement  obtained  with  each  hand  successively  is 
observed,  we  notice  that  that  obtained  with  the  right  hand  is 
normally  greater  than  that  obtained  with  the  left  hand. 

The  amplitude  of  the  displacement  of  the  needle  varies  with 
the  individuals,  and  particularly  with  the  condition  of  health. 

We  have  noticed  in  some  subjects,  but  in  rare  circumstances,  a 
displacement  of  the  needle  in  the  opposite  direction — that  is  to 
say,  a  repulsion. 

The  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  these  experiments  and 
observations  are  as  follows  : — 

It  is  proved  by  means  of  the  sthenometer  that  there  emanates 

2d 


418  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

from  the  living  organism  a  special  force,  which  is  transmitted  to  a 
distance,  and  appears  to  be  specially  dependent  upon  the  nervous 
system. 

This  force  is  modified  and  disturbed  in  various  diseases  of 
the  nervous  system,  and  the  observation  of  these  disturbances 
by  means  of  the  sthenometer  is  of  great  practical  interest  in  the 
treatment  of  these  complaints. 

It  is  therefore  proved  that  there  exists  a  force  capable 
of  being  projected  from  the  human  body  and  of  setting 
objects  in  motion  without  contact. 

We  will  now  study  this  force  as  exhibited  by  mediums. 

I  shall  give  in  this  chapter  the  summary  of  a  number 
of  mediumistic  phenomena  obtained  vdth.  children.  The 
author  of  this  account  has  intimately  known  the  family  in 
which  the  phenomena  were  produced,  and  all  the  persons 
who  were  present  at  the  experiments  in  which  he  himself 
took  part.     This,  therefore,  gives  it  a  very  special  interest. 

Mr.  Davis  occupies  an  important  position  in  the  tele- 
graph department.  The  mediumship  of  the  children  has 
not,  I  believe,  been  since  manifested.^ 

In  the  account  which  I  shall  give  of  these  phenomena 
which  took  place  in  a  family  circle  at  Kio-de-Janeiro,  the 
one  difficulty  is  that  of  presenting  the  facts  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  give  the  proper  impression  of  their  value. 
Facts,  isolated  from  the  series  to  which  they  belong,  may, 
like  quotations  detached  from  their  context,  lead  to  errors. 
Yet  there  are  many  things  in  cases  such  as  the  following 
which  are  of  too  private  a  nature  to  be  published.  There 
are  names  and  circumstances  relating  to  persons  outside 
the  circle  which  for  this  reason  cannot  be  mentioned ;  and 
even  as  regards  those  with  whom  we  are  personally  con- 
cerned there  are,  as  will  be  easily  understood,  some  things 
too  private  to  be  repeated.  I  shall  therefore  confine  my- 
self to  a  description  as  exact  as  possible  of  the  physical 
phenomena. 

Towards  the  middle  of  1888  we  received  at  Rio  a 
visit  from  the  well-known  Floury  Slade,  who,  after  a  stay 

1  S(ie  An7inlcs  dcs  Sciences  Psychiqiws,  vol.  iii.,  1892,  pp.  242,  302,  Sol. 


PHExNOMENA   OF   lAIOTRIClTY  419 

of  a  few  weeks  without  success,  left  us  to  go  to  Buenos  Aires, 
and  returned  to  Rio  after  six  weeks'  absence.  He  seemed 
then  to  be  more  fortunate  in  his  seances,  and  although 
on  this  account  I  would  prefer  to  abstain  from  speaking, 
even  in  passing,  of  a  professional  medium,  it  is  only  fair 
to  attribute  to  him  the  great  mterest  Avhich  psychical 
phenomena  then  aroused,  and  perhaps  the  appearance  of 
a  power  which  produced  them.  Mr.  Davis,  whose  acquaint- 
ance I  made  when  Slade  came  to  us  for  the  first  time,  was 
induced  to  form  a  circle  at  his  own  house.  He  occupied 
a  small  country  house  in  a  lonely  place  on  the  slope  of  a 
small  hill  overlooking  the  sea.  But  in  November  1888 
he  removed  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  much  nearer  to 
the  sea. 

While  Slade  was  at  Buenos  Aires,  at  least  twenty-five 
weekly  seances  were  held  at  Mr.  Davis's  house  without 
the  slightest  result. 

Eventually  on  August  14th  some  slight  manifestations 
were  obtained  with  fairly  good  proofs  of  identity,  and  as 
these  rapidly  increased  in  power  and  frequency,  they  kindly 
invited  me  to  join  the  circle.  The  members  who  then 
composed  it  Avere  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis,  their  daughters 
C.  and  A.,  aged  twelve  and  nine  and  a  half  years  respec- 
tively, their  maternal  grandmother,  and  myself ;  we  may 
also  include  Mr.  X.,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Davis,  but  he  did  not 
come  very  regularly. 

The  strength  of  the  proofs  depends  almost  entirely 
upon  the  members  of  the  circle,  and  upon  their  com- 
petence as  observers  and  their  reputation  for  honesty. 

At  the  end  of  August  and  during  the  following  months 
we  had  proof  upon  proof  of  the  reality  of  the  psychic  force 
and  of  the  strange  intelligence  which  accompanied  it. 
Heavy  objects  were  put  in  motion,  without  conscious 
effort  on  our  part,  and  sometimes  without  any  kind  of 
contact.  What  seemed  to  be  direct  writing  appeared  on 
the  walls  and  in  closed  books,  and  we  could  obtain  it  on 
slates  by  carefully  observing  regularity  m  holding  our 
seances.  Knocks  were  very  frequent  and  were  of  all 
kinds,  from  the  slightest  to  the  most  violent.     Impres- 


420  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

sions  of  fingers,  and  once  that  of  a  foot,  were  produced 
on  the  floor  without  normal  cause. 

Clairvoyance  and,  in  a  slight  degree,  clairaudience 
were  developed  :  sometimes  the  contact  and  the  grasp  of 
hands  which  did  not  seem  to  belong  to  any  of  the 
spectators  were  felt,  even  by  myself. 

Very  characteristic  marks  of  individuality  w'ere  main- 
tained throughout  the  course  of  the  manifestations,  and, 
in  some  cases,  it  was  clearly  indicated  that  the  intelligence 
at  work  could  not  be  identified  with  the  sub-conscious 
cerebration  of  the  persons  present. 

These  phenomena  were  at  first  both  relevant  and 
irrelevant.  The  instruments  of  their  production  were 
ordinary  English  children :  this  naturally  aroused  in  them 
a  certain  pride,  and  in  us  the  excitation  of  our  faculties 
of  observation  and  reasoning,  our  curiosity  being  greatly 
stimulated.  After  having  increased  in  mtensity,  and 
given  us  reason  to  expect  still  more  marvellous  mani- 
festations, the  power  ended  by  decreasing  to  such  a  degree 
that  it  was  reduced  to  simple  automatic  writing.  This 
synchronised  with  the  change  of  residence;  but  I  think 
that  the  cause  should  be  mainly  attributed  to  the  heat  of 
an  exceptionally  bad  summer. 

When  it  again  became  cold  the  power  reappeared,  but 
it  never  agam  reached  the  degree  attained  in  1888,  and 
on  June  4,  1889,  the  departure  of  Mr.  Davis's  family  for 
England  put  an  end  to  the  seances. 

It  ought  to  be  stated  that  from  commencement  to 
finish  there  was  nothing  that  could  be  truly  ascribed  to  a 
morbid  condition  of  the  nervous  system,  either  in  the 
children  or  in  the  adult  observers :  none  of  those  present 
were  at  any  time  in  a  state  of  consciousness  difi'ering  in 
appearance  from  the  normal  state. 

Warned  by  failures  and  disappointments  in  other  cases, 
Mr.  Davis  and  I  decided  to  submit  everything  to  a  strict 
inquiry  and  to  judge  each  phenomenon  at  its  true  value. 

According  to  notes  taken  at  the  time,  and  my  recol- 
lections corrected  by  those  of  other  witnesses,  I  Avill  now 
try  to  enter  into  details,  and  I  will  arrange  the  facts,  not 


PHENOMENA   OF   MOTRICITY  421 

according  to  their  succession  in  time,  but  according  to  the 
class  to  which  they  belong. 


Movement  of  Heavy  Bodies  attributable  to  Psychic  Force 

At  the  first  successful  seance  held  on  August  14th,  at 
which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  and  their  two  children  C.  and  A. 
were  present,  the  table  gave  some  raps,  the  hands  of  the 
members  being,  in  accordance  with  custom,  placed  in  a 
chain  on  the  table.  The  letters  indicated  by  the  raps 
gave  the  name  of  a  relative,  Fanny  Z.,  who  had  been 
dead  for  some  time,  and  this  name  was  persistently  given, 
although  the  sitters  believed  that  it  was  really  Frances. 
Mme.  Z.,  who  was  not  in  the  room  at  the  time,  was  asked 
to  come,  and  she  stated  that  the  deceased  had  always 
been  familiarly  called  Fanny,  although  her  real  name 
was  Frances. 

The  sitters  had  been  quite  opposed  to  the  name  given 
by  the  table  until  the  corroborative  explanation  was  given 
by  Mme.  Z. 

From  this  time  the  power,  as  I  have  already  said, 
rapidly  developed;  there  were  spontaneous  manifesta- 
tions, or  they  would  come  when  asked  for  at  any  hour  of 
the  day. 

It  was  after  this  first  appearance  of  phenomena  that  I 
was  invited  by  Mr.  Davis  to  take  part  in  the  seances. 
During  tea  the  dining-room  table,  around  which  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Davis  and  their  five  little  daughters  were  seated, 
swayed  right  and  left  and  rose  on  one  side  by  sudden 
and  very  emphatic  movements,  which  often  indicated, 
according  to  the  usual  signs  for  yes  or  no,  approbation 
or  disapprobation  of  the  statements  made  in  conversation. 

During  this  singular  conduct  of  the  table,  the  tAvo 
elder  daughters  C.  and  A.,  from  whom  the  power  seemed 
principally  to  come,  were  quietly  seated,  one  on  each  side 
of  their  mother,  who  was  well  placed  for  discovering  any 
interference  on  their  part.  The  same  thing  happened  on 
other  occasions  in  my  presence,  and,  as  Mr.  Davis  assured 
me,  at  the  time  the  members  of  the  family  were  present. 


422  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

The  table,  in  short,  acted  like  a  living,  moving  losing 
endowed  with  human  intelligence. 

The  tone  adopted  in  conversation  with  these  strange 
influences  was  rather  jocular ;  and  on  one  occasion,  when 
I  left  the  room  after  tea,  the  table  ran  after  me  as  though 
it  wished  to  call  me  back.  C  was  then  the  only  other 
person  present  in  the  room,  and,  so  far  as  I  was  able  to 
see,  she  did  not  even  touch  the  table,  still  less  push  it. 

On  another  occasion,  when  we  were  around  the  table, 
it  raised  itself  and  fell  down  again  slowly  and  deliberately, 
in  a  manner  so  entirely  different  from  its  usual  method 
that  we  immediately  supposed  the  presence  of  a  new 
influence.  The  alphabet  was  recited  and  repeated,  and 
we  got  the  name  of  a  lady  who,  in  former  years,  had  been 
a  personal  friend  of  Mme.  Z.  The  others  had  only  heard 
her  spoken  of.  We  then  inquired  her  age,  which  I  must 
not  mention  because  her  relatives,  who  are  still  living, 
would  guess  to  whom  it  referred;  but  as  to  the  number 
of  years  a  mistake  was  made,  against  which  the  table 
immediately  protested,  correcting  Mme.  Z.  as  to  the 
number  of  units,  which  I  believe  was  five  instead  of  four. 
Mme.  Z.  immediately  admitted  that  her  memory  had 
played  her  false. 

Other  phenomena  of  a  spontaneous  character,  or  which 
were  produced  in  accordance  with  our  request,  proved  the 
presence  of  a  psychic  force  even  better  than  the  incon- 
venient movements  of  the  tea-table.  The  chair  on  which 
Amy,  a  child  of  thirteen  months,  was  seated  was  moved 
backwards  and  forwards  in  a  space  of  about  ten  or  twelve 
inches  between  the  table  and  the  wall,  and  so  abruptly 
that  the  chair,  partly  under  the  table,  was  in  danger  of 
falling  over  backwards. 

The  child,  instead  of  being  frightened,  seemed  to  feel 
quite  safe,  and  laughed,  although  we  were  sometimes  very 
anxious.  At  our  request  the  chair  was  raised  again  and 
the  violence  of  the  movements  moderated.  Mme.  Z.  was 
sitting  on  the  right  of  the  child,  and  A.  on  the  left.  In 
its  movements  the  chair  remained  parallel  with  the  table — 
that  is  to  say,  it  did  not  move  at  all — as  though  it  had  been 


PHENOMENA    OF   MOTRICITV  42f3 

drawn  forward  and  sideways  by  the  foot  of  one  of  those 
sitting  next  to  it,  and  generally  it  glided  across  and  not 
lengthwise  of  the  floor  boards,  which  were  uncarpeted,  as 
is  usual  in  Brazil.  Being  seated  close  to  Amy  I  tried 
to  move  the  chair,  and  I  can  say  that,  although  my  lower 
limbs  are  of  more  than  average  strength,  I  was  only  able 
to  move  it  with  great  difficulty,  and  the  result  of  my  effort 
was  to  turn  the  chair  half  round.  If,  therefore,  instead 
of  having,  as  was  the  case,  every  reason  to  trust  Mme.  Z. 
and  her  little  daughter,  I  had  had  the  best  reason  for 
distrusting  them,  I  should  nevertheless,  in  the  absence 
of  all  visible  mechanism,  have  regarded  this  particular 
phenomenon  as  genuine. 

Another  incident  worthy  of  record  was  connected  with 
a  little  dog  named  Tury,  who  was  as  usual  seated  upon  a 
chair  away  from  the  table  and  close  to  the  wall.  No  one 
being  near  to  him  I  jokingly  challenged  the  visible  influ- 
ence to  move  the  chair,  so  as  to  compel  the  dog  to  jump 
down.  For  about  a  minute  nothing  happened,  then  the 
dog  left  the  chair,  apparently  by  his  own  will.  Two  or 
three  seconds  passed  after  he  had  jumped  down,  and  then 
the  chair  oscillated  before  us  all.  In  the  same  manner 
a  child's  swing,  which  hung  in  a  corner  of  the  room, 
was  at  my  request  made  to  oscillate  slightly  but  quite 
visibly,  and  this  was  observed  by  Mr.  Davis  and  myself. 
There  was,  it  is  true,  a  window  open  behind  it;  but  as 
we  then  carefully  observed,  there  was  no  sensible  breeze 
coming  from  that  direction.  The  temperature  of  the 
house  and  that  of  the  outside  were  very  similar,  and  it 
was  one  of  the  very  calm  Brazilian  nights. 

An  account  of  a  phenomenon  of  levitation  suggested 
to  us  another  experiment  with  the  tea-table.  I  asked  C, 
who  was  seated  a  little  farther  away  than  I  was,  her  little 
sister  D.  being  between  us,  to  place  her  hand  on  the  back 
of  my  chair ;  this  she  did,  seeming  to  touch  the  chair 
very  slightly.  The  chair  began  to  sway  to  right  and  left, 
and  continued  the  movement  even  when  I  raised  my  feet 
from  the  floor.  This  indicated  the  application  of  a  great 
force,  and  was  amply  sufficient  to  prove  the  action  of  a 


424  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

physical  force,  if  not  to  raise  me  entirely  from  the  lioor. 
During  all  this  C.  remained  seated  and  motionless,  and 
it  was  evident  that  she  did  not  make  the  slightest  effort. 

The  following  evening  Mr.  X.,  who  was  very  strong, 
took  C.'s  chair,  while  I  remained  on  my  own,  and  he 
tried  to  produce  the  same  effect,  in  the  same  conditions. 
As  a  result  his  own  chair  slid  on  the  floor  while  mine 
remained  motionless.  My  weight,  which  has  not  changed 
much  since  then,  is  207  pounds. 

There  were  some  other  experiments  with  the  tables, 
better  carried  out,  during  the  regular  seances  at  which 
I  assiduously  took  part  from  that  time. 

Once  a  light  table  with  three  legs  was  turned  upside 
down,  and  my  hands  as  well  as  those  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Davis  and  their  two  daughters  were  lightly  placed  on 
the  legs.  Care  was  taken  to  see  that  the  legs  were  only 
lightly  touched,  and  in  these  conditions  the  table  sprang 
rapidly  from  the  floor  on  to  the  knees  of  one  of  the  sitters 
and  then  down  on  to  the  floor  again,  repeating  this  action 
with  each  of  us  in  turn. 

At  the  Thursday  evening  seances  the  table  generally 
placed  itself  in  the  desired  position  when  we  had  seated 
ourselves,  either  immediately  before  or  after  our  hands 
had  been  placed  on  the  surface.  These  movements,  how- 
ever, nearly  always  caused  us  surprise,  and  as  we  had  in 
view  the  study  of  much  more  important  phenomena,  we 
did  not  submit  them  to  a  very  strict  examination. 

An  interesting  case  of  apparent  alteration  of  the  weight 
of  the  table  was  observed  by  Mr.  X.  when  C.  was  beside 
him.  At  his  request,  while  he  was  moving  it,  it  became 
alternately  very  light  and  very  heavy,  so  although  it 
was  only  an  ordinary  card-table,  he  more  than  once  had 
to  set  it  down  on  the  floor  again. 

I  will  give  here  an  account  of  an  interesting  pheno- 
menon which  happened  previously  with  Slade,  but  which, 
in  the  case  of  a  professional  medium,  might  perhaps  be 
attributed  to  conjuring.  Having  once  been  for  a  walk  on 
the  hill  before  entering  Mr.  Davis's  house,  I  found  on 
arriving  that  the  children  had  just  finished  their  lessons. 


PHENOMENA   OF   MOTRICITY  425 

The  thought  came  to  me  on  seeing  the  slates  and  books 
on  the  table  that  I  would  try  in  A.'s  presence  to  obtain 
the  disappearance  of  a  solid  object,  and  when  we  were 
alone  in  the  room,  on  my  suggestion,  we  both  took  a  slate 
on  which  a  book  had  been  placed,  and  held  it  under  the 
table.  The  slate  was  forcibly  turned  over  and  the  book 
fell  to  the  ground.  This  was  a  failure.  I  then  took  a 
slate  pencil  of  ordinary  length  which  was  on  the  table, 
placed  it  on  the  slate,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the 
little  medium  I  again  held  the  slate  out  of  sight,  in 
the  shadow  of  the  table  ;  after  a  moment  we  drew  back 
the  slate  :  the  pencil  had  disappeared. 

We  looked  for  it  on  the  floor  under  the  table,  but  in 
vam.  On  putting  the  slate  back  in  its  place  the  pencil 
seemed  to  fall  upon  it.  I  tried  again,  in  exactly  the  same 
conditions,  and  again  the  pencil  disappeared.  This  time, 
besides  looking  everywhere  for  the  pencil,  I  asked  A.  to 
shake  her  arms  and  called  Mr.  Davis,  who  was  in  the 
next  room.  I  explained  to  him  what  had  happened,  and 
asked  him  to  help  us  in  our  search.  Some  minutes  passed 
before  he  found  anythmg;  then  having  put  his  hand 
between  the  cross-bars  joining  the  legs  of  the  table  he . 
found  the  pencil,  which  seemed  to  have  been  placed  there 
by  some  one.  At  this  point  particularly  the  wood  vv^as 
smooth  and  the  surface  vertical,  and  the  pencil  could  not 
have  been  driven  into  the  hard  wood  of  which  the  table 
was  made.  In  addition,  the  experiment  was  quite  new 
to  the  young  girl,  whom  I  myself  watched  in  full  light, 
and  she  could  not  have  let  go  the  slate  for  an  appreciable 
time  without  my  perceiving  it,  while,  as  to  her  other  hand, 
I  was  holding  that  on  the  table. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

MOVEMENT   OF    OBJECTS    WITHOUT   CONTACT 

Experiments  of  Dr.  Dariex 

At  the  Psychological  Congress  in  Paris  in  1900  Dr.  Dariex 
made  a  very  important  communication  on  some  experi- 
ments in  the  movement  of  objects  without  contact,  which 
took  place  at  his  house  and  were  verified  by  a  committee. 
We  will  give  this  report  in  full,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  all  the  observations  were  made  in  a  thoroughly  scien- 
tific manner. 

Report  of  the  Collective  Experiments  instituted  for  the 
verification  of  Movements  of  Objects  without  Contact. 

We  the  undersigned : — 

Dr.  BarbilUon,  of  the  Faculty  of  Paris,  formerly  house- 
physician  at  the  hospitals,  residing  at  16  Quai  d'Orleans, 
Paris ; 

Paul  Besombes,  civil  engineer,  living  at  7  Rue  Boutarel, 
Paris ; 

Dr.  Joanne  Meneault,  of  the  Faculty  of  Paris,  formerly 
house-surgeon  at  the  Marine  Hospital  at  Berck-sur-Mer, 
residing  at  51  Rue  Monge,  Paris ; 

Louis  Morin,  pharmaceutical  chemist,  residing  at  9  Rue 
du  Pont-Louis-Philippe ; 

Certify  to  the  correctness  of  the  following  facts : — 

Dr.  Dariex,  residing  at  No.  6  Rue  du  Bcllay,  Paris, 
having  on  several  occasions,  and  particularly  on  January 
24,  1889,  believed  that  he  had  witnessed  the  production 
of  some  strange  phenomena  at  night  in  his  study,  asked 
the  above-named  persons  to  verify  the  observations  already 
made  as  to  the  existence  of  these  phenomena. 


OBJECTS   WITHOUT  CONTACT 


427 


Accordinsr  to  Dr.  Dariex,  chairs  have  been  found  thrown 
down  m  his  study,  and  that  on  several  occasions  when, 
through  the  precautions  taken  to  avoid  all  trickery,  it 
appeared  impossible  for  any  living  person  to  have  come 
into  the  room,  the  doors  and  wuidows  of  which  had  been 
methodically  closed  and  sealed. 

For  ten  days,  from  January  26th,  to  February  4th,  the 
undersigned  met  regularly  at  Dr.  Dariex's  house  at  8 
o'clock  in  the  evening  and  8.30  in  the  morning — sometimes 
all  were  present,  sometimes  one  or  more  were  absent.    Dr. 


J?c^<z  tSFZ 


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\ 

D 


ic^/ffyncy\ 


Ooor      I 


Fig.  11. 


^ 


Barbillion  and  Dr.  Dariex  were  not  absent  from  a  single 
meeting,  and  were  present  at  the  whole  of  the  experi- 
ments. 

Dr.  Dariex's  study  is  on  the  first-floor  of  the  house  at 
No.  6  in  the  Rue  du  Bellay,  and  is  in  the  part  of  the  flat 
which  forms  the  corner  of  this  street  and  that  of  Rue 
Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile. 

It  is  lighted  by  two  windows  looking  on  to  this  street, 
and  communication  with  the  other  rooms  on  the  floor 
is  by  two  doors  :  the  one  leading  into  the  drawing-room 
and  opening  outwards,  and  the  other  leading  into  the 
dining-room  and  opening  inwards. 


428  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  above  plan  shows  the  arrangement  of  the 
rooms. 

The  furniture  in  the  study  consisted  of  a  bookcase, 
writing-desk,  table,  couch,  easy-chair,  and  four  chairs ; 
there  was  no  cupboard.  After  having  scrupulously  ex- 
amined the  windows  and  doors,  as  well  as  the  various 
pieces  of  furniture,  the  walls  and  the  floor,  the  undersigned 
are  convinced  that  there  was  nothing  that  could  cause 
the  fall  or  displacement  of  any  article  of  furniture  or  any 
object  by  the  aid  of  mechanism,  wires,  or  any  other  means ; 
that  it  would  be  equally  impossible  for  any  one  to  hide  in 
the  study  or  to  come  into  the  room  after  the  windows  and 
doors  had  been  closed  and  sealed.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, each  evening  at  8  o'clock  the  following  precautions 
were  carefully  taken  and  the  iron  shutters  were  fastened 
and  the  windows  closed,  seals  being  placed  on  the  case- 
ments close  to  the  fastenings.  The  door  opening  into  the 
drawing-room  was  locked  from  the  study,  the  key  being- 
left  in  the  keyhole  and  secured  by  a  band  of  cloth  sealed 
at  both  ends. 

Seals  were  affixed  to  the  door,  and  a  band  of  cloth  was 
fastened  with  sealing-wax  to  the  door  itself,  and  to  the 
adjoining  wall.  Throughout  the  whole  of  our  experiments 
this  drawing-room  door  remained  thus  secured. 

The  only  opening  remaining  was  the  door  leading  into 
the  study  from  the  dining-room.  The  chairs  in  the  study 
were  arranged  in  an  order  agreed  upon,  but  not  always 
exactly  in  the  same  place.  Then  the  experimenters  went 
out  of  the  study  into  the  dining-room,  Dr.  Dariex  first, 
and  each  of  them  from  the  dininof-room  cast  a  glance 
round  the  study  in  order  to  finally  assure  himself  that 
the  chairs  were  upright  and  in  their  places. 

Then  Dr.  Barbillion  locked  the  door  of  the  study  and 
kept  the  key  in  his  possession ;  seals  were  affixed  and  a 
band  of  cloth  placed  over  the  keyhole.  Seven  or  eight 
impressions  were  made  Avith  a  seal  belonging  to  M.  Morin, 
which  he  kept  in  his  possession  and  took  home  with  him. 
The  form  and  arrangement  of  the  seals  were  carefully 
noted. 


OBJECTS   WITHOUT   CONTACT  429 

These  precautions  were  regularly  and  rigorously  taken  at 
8  o'clock  each  evening,  and  we  met  again  at  8.30  the  follow- 
ing morning  to  remove  the  seals,  the  operation  being  always 
preceded  by  a  mmute  examination  of  the  seals  and  of  the 
lock.  The  following  is  an  account  of  what  happened 
during  the  ten  days  of  our  observation : — 

First  night,  Saturday,  26th  January,  to  Sunday,  27th 
January — Nothing. 

Second  night,  27th-28th  January — Nothing. 

Third  night,  28th-29th  January  —  two  chairs  were 
overturned  :  the  one,  which  was  placed  close  to  the  book- 
case, had  fallen  on  to  its  left  side ;  the  other,  placed  close  to 
the  arm-chair,  was  thrown  on  its  back  towards  the  window 
and  the  table. 

Fourth  night,  29th-30th  January — Nothing. 

Fifth  night,  30th-olst  January — Nothing. 

Sixth  night,  31st  January-lst  February — Nothing. 

Seventh  night,  lst-2nd  February — Nothing. 

Eighth  night,  '2nd-3rd  February — Nothing. 

Ninth  night,  3rd-4th  February — Nothing. 

Tenth  night,  4th-5th  February  —  Two  chairs  were 
overturned  :  the  one  placed  near  the  table  was  thrown  on 
to  its  left  side,  towards  the  couch  ;  the  other,  placed  near 
the  arm-chair,  had  fallen  on  its  back  in  the  direction  of 
the  window. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  precautions  taken  by  us  to 
prevent  all  trickery,  and  the  care  with  which  the  seals 
were  affixed  and  afterwards  examined,  we  are  convinced : — 

1.  That  no  one  could  have  remained  in  the  study  after 
we  had  come  out  of  it ; 

2.  That  no  one  could  have  gone  into  it  during  the 
night  before  we  arrived  the  following  morning. 

And  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  during  the 
night,  on  two  occasions  during  the  ten  days,  in  a  room 
completely  closed  and  which  no  living  person  could  have 
entered,  chairs  were  thrown  down  contrary  to  our  expec- 
tation and  anticipation ;  that  this  manifestation  of  an 
apparently  mysterious  force,  produced  outside  of  the  usual 
conditions,  does  not  appear  to  us  to  be  in  conformity  with 


430  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

any  ordinary  explanation,  and  without  wishing  to  prejudice 
in  any  way  the  precise  character  of  this  force  and  draw 
positive  conchisions,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  the 
phenomena  are  of  a  psychic  order,  similar  to  those 
which  have  been  described  and  verified  by  a  number 
of  observers.  Dr.  Barbillion. 

Dr.  Meneault. 

M.  MORIN. 

L.  Besombes. 
Dr.  Dariex. 

All  the  signatures  were  authenticated  by  the  Mayors  of 
the  Fourth  Arrondissement  and  of  Pont-de-Vaux  (Ain),  to 
which  place  Dr.  Meneault  shortly  afterwards  removed. 

As  stated  in  the  report,  sometimes  all  the  experi- 
menters were  not  present.  As  the  experiments  necessitated 
twenty  regular  appointments  at  fixed  hours,  it  can  be  easily 
understood  that  at  some  time  or  another  some  one  would 
fail  to  keep  them  ;  but  the  experimenters  were  all  present 
when  the  phenomena  were  found  to  have  taken  place. 
All  verified  the  seals,  found  them  intact,  and  before  any 
one  entered  the  study  saw  from  the  dining-room  the  over- 
turned chairs.  This  is  the  reason  why  all  have  signed  the 
ofiicial  report  without  restriction.  We  all  had,  moreover, 
absolute  confidence  in  each  other,  because  we  were  all 
friends  of  long  standing,  and  knew  we  were  all  incapable 
of  deceiving  one  another. 

I  should  have  liked  to  have  had  a  larger  number  of 
witnesses ;  but,  at  that  time,  few  people  in  France  dared 
to  speak  of  psychical  phenomena  for  fear  of  being  taken  for 
fools  or  hallucinated,  and  I  myself,  less  experienced  and 
less  convinced  than  I  am  to-day  of  the  necessity  of  daring 
to  approach  these  investigations,  openly  shared  to  some 
extent  the  general  faint-heartedness,  and  only  talked  of 
the  matter  with  my  friends ;  thus  I  only  ventured  to  pro- 
pose to  my  intimate  acquaintances  that  they  should  come 
and  verify  what  I  had  already  observed.  I  did  not  know 
whether  the  phenomenon  would  be  again  produced,  and  I 
did  not  wish  to  expose  myself  to  the  vexation  which  would 


OBJECTS   WITHOUT   CONTACT  431 

have  resulted  if  I  had  convened  a  similar  committee  of 
persons  who  did  not  know  me  so  well,  and  who  kncAv 
nothing  of  psychical  phenomena,  of  their  inconstancy,  their 
variability,  and  of  the  numerous  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
such  experiments. 

From  the  5th  of  February,  my  friends  having  declared 
that  the  verification  was  sufficient,  and  that  it  was  useless 
to  prolong  it,  I  had  my  bed  made  every  evening  in  the 
study,  and  slept  there  up  to  February  26th,  at  which 
date  I  was  called  into  the  country  through  a  family 
bereavement.  I  heard  nothing,  and  no  chair  was  again 
overturned. 

Was  fraud  possible  ?  Could  we  have  been  played  a 
trick  by  a  very  simple  Breton  servant,  whom  Professor 
Charles  Richet  knew,  and  whom  he  thought  incapable  of 
it,  and  whom  I  myself,  during  the  nine  years  she  was  in 
my  service,  had  never  found  out  in  any  deception  ?  Is  it 
possible  that  this  girl,  who  had  certainly  not  had  any 
experience  or  practice  with  seals  could,  on  four  occasions, 
have  removed  and  replaced,  without  it  being  perceived, 
at  least  six  seals  each  time,  even  to  the  irregularities  and 
blisters  of  which  we  had  taken  note,  which  seals,  Avhen  we 
wished  to  remove  them,  adhered  to  the  cloth  so  firmly 
that  the  cloth  itself  tore ;  and  of  which  my  friends  and 
myself  could  not  succeed  in  removing  and  replacing  even 
one,  although  we  made  several  attempts,  by  all  the  methods 
and  with  all  the  instruments  we  could  think  of  ? 

How  many  times  we  have  discussed,  particularly  with 
Professor  Charles  Richet,  in  what  way  my  servant  could 
have  deceived  us !  The  hypothesis  that  she  could  have 
got  into  the  room  in  spite  of  the  seals  and  overturned  the 
chairs  has  always  been  declared  inadmissible  by  those  who 
have  examined  it ;  that  of  iron  wires  introduced  under 
the  doors  is  not  admissible,  when  we  consider  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  room,  the  furniture,  the  position  of  the  chairs, 
and  the  way  in  which  they  were  thrown  down  ;  to  suppose 
that  they  were  overturned  by  a  shaking  of  the  house  is 
inacceptable,  because  during  the  twelve  years  and  a  half 
that  I  have  lived  in  the  same  flat  no  chair  has  been 


432  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

thrown  down  save  during  the  time  of  these  experiments. 
Could  they  have  been  overthrown  by  an  animal  that  had 
come  down  the  chimney  and  gone  back  the  same  way 
without  being  caught  ?  This  would  be  an  absurd  hypo- 
thesis ;  first  of  all,  the  metal  curtain  in  front  of  the  fire- 
place was  completely  lowered,  and  there  was  a  grating  in 
the  fireplace  behind  the  screen ;  then  can  it  be  imagined 
that  this  animal  could  descend  in  the  night,  through  the 
narrow  tube  of  a  Parisian  chimney,  about  eighteen  yards 
in  height,  simply  to  amuse  itself  by  overturning  chairs 
and  then  returning  by  the  same  way  as  it  had  come  ? 
The  only  animal  capable  of  doing  this  and  of  remain- 
ing unseen  in  the  study,  which  we  carefully  examined 
before  affixing  the  seals,  would  be  a  mouse.  But  a  mouse 
is  quite  incapable  of  overturning  chairs  weighing  eight 
pounds. 

There  remains  one  objection,  and  that  is  the  following: — 

"  A  certain  time  having  elapsed  between  the  affixing  of 
the  seals  and  the  verification  of  the  phenomena,  a  mould 
of  the  wax  seals  could  have  been  taken  with  the  view  of 
executing  a  counterfeit  seal,  enabling  a  substitution  to  take 
place." 

This  objection  is  the  most  serious  one,  and  might  at 
first  sight  seem  calculated  to  throw  doubt ;  fortunately  in 
the  interests  of  truth  it  will  not  stand  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  facts. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  time  I  had  recourse  to  the 
guarantee  afforded  by  the  seals,  during  the  private  experi- 
ments I  had  made  previous  to  the  collective  experiments, 
I  affixed  the  seals,  without  any  one  knowing  my  intention, 
at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Then,  although  the  keys  and  the  seal  had  not  left  my 
pocket,  at  ten  minutes  after  midnight,  that  is,  four  hours 
later,  I  again  found  my  seals  quite  intact  and  a  chair  had 
been  thrown  over  in  the  study. 

It  was  quite  impossible  in  four  hours,  between  eight 
o'clock  and  midnight,  to  procure  a  seal  similar  to  mine. 
I  could  not  therefore  myself  have  been  deceived  in  this 
manner.     Could  I  have  deceived  the  others  ? 


OBJECTS   WITHOUT   CONTACT  433 

This  Avould  also  be  impossible.  As  we  said  in  the  report, 
the  forin  and  the  arrangement  of  the  seals  were  carefully 
noted. 

This  is  already  a  very  important  guarantee,  because  it 
is  not  easy  to  obtain  regular  seals  in  a  vertical  plane  with 
melted  wax ;  they  were  all  of  unequal  thickness  and  of 
very  varying  outlines,  so  that  out  of  fifty  probably  not 
two  would  be  found  so  much  alike  as  to  be  confused ;  but, 
in  addition  to  this  precaution,  another  was  taken,  towards 
the  end,  at  my  request :  from  a  sheet  of  paper,  on  which 
one  of  us  had  rapidly  written  in  rather  large  characters 
some  sentences  which  completely  covered  it,  we  cut  a 
strip,  about  six  inches  by  three  inches,  which  was  neces- 
sary for  the  application  of  the  seals.  The  following  morn- 
ing, this  strip  was  compared  with  the  rest  of  the  sheet 
from  which  it  had  been  cut,  and  which  had  been  taken 
away  at  the  same  time  as  the  key  of  the  seal,  and  we 
convinced  ourselves  that  the  portions  which  had  been  cut 
out  and  the  remaining  pieces  corresponded  exactly.  This 
precaution  had  been  taken  on  February  4th  ;  nevertheless, 
on  the  following  morning  we  found  two  chairs  thrown  down. 

Were  these  phenomena  independent  of  the  presence 
or  of  the  vicinity  of  some  person,  some  "medium,"  to 
use  the  stereotyped  expression  ?  I  know  nothing  as  to 
this,  but  I  presume  that  if  the  presence  of  some  one  was 
necessary,  if  there  was  a  medium  there,  it  must  have  been 
my  servant,  whose  health  and  nervous  system  were  then 
very  delicate.  She  had  never  been  subject  to  spontaneous 
somnambulism,  but  a  year  ago  I  was  led  by  the  force  of 
events  to  the  conviction  that  she  was  hypnotisable.  The 
reason  for  this  was  that  some  gastric-intestinal  troubles, 
doubtless  principally  of  nervous  origin,  had  made  their 
appearance ;  for  nearly  three  weeks  I  used  the  proper 
medicaments,  but  they  all  failed  or  only  gave  indifferent 
results,  and  the  patient  became  gradually  weaker,  until 
she  got  into  such  an  extremely  weak  state  that  she  was 
unable  to  stand  upright.  Her  condition,  which  was  serious 
and  very  alarming,  seemed  as  though  it  could  not  last  for 

any  length  of  time. 

2e 


434  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  seriousness  of  the  situation  caused  me  to  try 
therapeutic  suggestion.  Hypnotic  sleep  was  very  easily 
obtained.  The  first  suggestion  led  to  considerable  im- 
provement ;  the  second  accentuated  this  improvement ; 
and  after  the  third  the  cure  was  complete.  It  had  taken 
four  days. 

Was  it  chance  ?  Had  the  time  for  the  cure  come 
when  I  commenced  the  therapeutic  suggestion  ?  That 
is  not  probable,  because  several  months  later  the  same 
troubles  returned,  and  medicines  gave  no  better  results 
than  before,  although  they  were  taken  exactly  as  I  had 
prescribed,  and  generally  in  my  presence.  This  time  I 
did  not  wait  so  long  before  having  recourse  to  therapeutic 
suggestion,  and  two  suggestions  brought  about  a  complete 
and  lasting  cure. 

Since  that  time  I  had  made  numerous  experiments 
with  the  movements  of  objects  without  contact,  and  I  have 
had  the  pleasure  of  finding  that  these  experiments,  even 
though  they  were  not  always  convincing,  and  were  some- 
times even  open  to  suspicion,  often  afforded  sufficient 
guarantee  in  favour  of  the  reality  of  the  phenomenon,  and 
corroborated  what  I  had  already  been  able  to  observe. 
These  experiments  have  been  published  in  the  Annales 
des  Sciences  Fsychiques. 

Dr.  Dariex. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

PHENOMENA   OF   LEVITATION 

Investigations  and  Experiments 

Levitation  is  a  phenomenon  which  consists  in  the  raising 
of  an  object  without  any  contact  with  the  medium  or  the 
sitters.  The  phenomenon  of  levitation  sometimes  operates 
on  the  medium  himself.  He  is  then  found  raised  above 
the  floor  either  alone  or  with  the  seat  on  which  he  was 
sitting.  It  is  clear  that  in  order  thoroughly  to  verify  the 
levitation  of  a  medium,  it  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  that  he 
should  not  have  any  point  of  support  on  any  person  or 
object  which  would  enable  him  to  raise  himself.  In  the 
second  place,  it  is  essential  that  the  phenomenon  should 
last  so  long  that  it  cannot  be  attributed  to  a  leap  in 
the  air. 

Certain  authors  have  discussed  the  mechanism  of  the 
phenomenon  of  levitation,  and  have  asked  if  the  medium^ 
loses  weight,  becomes  lighter  than  the  air,  and  is  raised 
in  the  same  way  as  a  balloon,  or  if  in  this  phenomenon 
we  are  to  look  for  some  force  which  operates  on  the  medium 
and  raises  him. 

Such  discussion  is  entirely  superficial— in  fact,  gravity, 
which  holds  all  bodies  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  is 
nothing  but  a  force  applied  to  a  body  in  a  definite 
direction. 

Levitation,  whether  of  an  object  or  a  medium,  necessi- 
tates the  intervention  of  a  different  force,  or  of  the  resultant 
of  several  forces,  which  is  applied  to  a  body  in  opposition 
to  the  force  of  gravity  and  superior  to  it.  Exactly  the 
same  thing  happens  when  an  object  is  set  in  motion 
without  contact ;  it  needs  a  force  superior  to  the  force  of 
inertia  of  the  object  to  be  applied  to  it.     Levitation  must 

435 


436 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


therefore  also  be  connected  with  an  external  or  "projected 
force,  which  is  applied  to  the  medium  or  to  the  object 
levitated. 

As  the  phenomena  of  levitation  most  frequently  occur 
in  the  dark  we  seek  means  of  controlling  them,  which 
permit  of  the  verification  of  the  phenomena  and  enable 
us  to  study  them  in  various  phases,  while  the  medium 
is  in  the  dark. 


Fig.  12. — Dr.  Joire's  Apparatus  for  verifying  the  Phenomena  of 
Levitation. 


I  have  devised  the  above  apparatus,  which  enables  us  :— 

1.  To  verify  the  levitation  at  the  time  it  takes  place. 

2.  To  measure  exactly  the  height  to  which  the  medium 
is  raised. 

3.  To  ascertain  for  how  long  a  time  the  medium 
remains  at  the  various  heights  to  which  he  is  successively 
raised. 

This  apparatus  is  composed  of  wooden  supports,  E,  F, 
held  together  by  the  cross-beams  M,  N. 

A,  B  is  a  movable  platform  on  which  the  chair  and 
the  feet  of  the  medium  rest. 


PHENOMENA   OF   LEVITATION  437 

This  platform  is  fixed  to  a  vertical  bar  I,  J,  which  runs 
on  rollers  G,  working  in  a  rail  in  the  upright  E. 

The  platform  is  suspended  by  the  rope  Q,  which  is 
attached  to  the  ring  I,  passes  over  the  pulleys  C,  D,  and  at 
the  other  extremity  is  attached  to  the  counterweight  H, 
working  in  a  groove  in  the  upright  F. 

The  counterweight  is  made  a  little  heavier  than  the 
platform  I  and  B,  which  bears  the  seat  on  which  the 
medium  sits.  If  we  release  the  counterweight  when  the 
platform  is  empty,  the  latter  will  be  drawn  upwards. 

When  the  medium  is  placed  on  the  apparatus  we 
release  the  counterweight,  and  the  weight  of  the  medium 
keeps  the  platform  A,  B  in  contact  with  the  ground. 

The  counterweight  H  bears  a  copper  needle  K,  which 
follows  its  movement  and  slides  over  copper  contact-pieces 
L  fixed  along  the  upright  F. 

The  needle  K  and  the  contact-pieces  L  are  connected 
with  a  set  of  electric  bells  O,  having  different  sounds, 
while  under  each  bell  there  is  an  opening  T,  in  which 
appears  a  number  corresponding  to  the  bell  under  Avhich 
it  is. 

Let  us  now  see  how  this  apparatus  works. 

The  front  part,  which  includes  the  platform  and  the 
upright  E,  is  placed  inside  the  room  where  the  experiment 
is  made ;  the  back  part,  which  includes  all  the  apparatus 
connected  with  the  upright  F,  remains  outside  the  room. 
The  room  is  closed  by  a  curtain,  which  I  have  indicated 
by  the  line  R. 

At  the  slightest  levitation  of  the  medium,  when  placed 
on  the  apparatus,  the  weight  H  descends,  carrying  the 
needle  K  with  it. 

The  contact-pieces  L  have  been  so  arranged  that  each 
corresponds  to  an  elevation  of  the  platform  A,  B  through 
a  space  of  5  centimetres  (2  inches). 

The  result  of  the  working  of  the  apparatus  is : — 

1.  A  person  placed  near  the  upright  F  can  follow  with 
his  eye  the  movement  of  the  needle,  which  corresponds 
exactly  with  the  movement  of  the  platform  A,  B,  and 
consequently  of  the  medium. 


438  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

2.  The  persons  surrounding  the  medium  inside  the 
room,  which  is  in  darkness,  can  equally  follow  this  move- 
ment by  hearing  the  ringing  of  the  different  bells,  which 
sound  in  succession. 

3.  The  time  during  which  the  ringing  of  the  bell  lasts 
indicates  the  time  during  which  the  medium  remains  at 
the  height  shown  by  the  corresponding  contact-piece. 

4.  By  means  of  the  figures  which  appear  on  the  board 
we  can  definitely  verify  after  the  experiment  the  height 
to  which  the  medium  has  been  raised. 

This  very  simple  apparatus  can  be  constructed  anywhere, 
and  may  be  of  great  service  in  verifying  and  registering  in  an 
exact  mathematical  manner  the  phenomenon  of  levitation. 

A  certain  number  of  mediums  have  exhibited  pheno- 
mena of  levitation. 

We  will  first  of  all  give  an  account  of  levitation  pheno- 
mena witnessed  in  some  private  experiments ;  and  after- 
wards numerous  cases  of  levitation  observed  with  mediums 
well  known  through  other  phenomena. 

M.  Palazzi,  of  Naples,  published  in  December  1893  the 
account  of  a  seance  in  Rome  at  Avhich  he  was  present  in 
company  with  a  painter,  M.  Francesco  Alegiani,  in  pre- 
sence of  M.  Henri  de  Siemiradzki,  Dr.  Nicola  Santangelo, 
physician  of  Venosa,  Professors  Ferri  and  Lorgi  of  the 
University  of  Rome,  M.  Hoffman,  editor  of  the  review 
Lux,  M.  Gorli,  and  several  other  men  and  women ;  in  all 
about  twenty  persons,  among  whom  were  three  mediums, 
the  engineer  Palmiani,  and  two  students,  MM.  Arturo 
Ruggieri  and  Alberto  Fontana.  The  last  named  was  the 
most  powerful  medium. 

Fourteen  persons  formed  a  chain  round  the  table, 
which  was  lighted  by  a  red  lamp.  M.  Fontana  was  at 
one  of  the  corners ;  his  right  hand  was  held  by  M,  Gorli 
and  his  left  by  Dr.  Santangelo  who,  on  account  of  the 
corner  of  the  table,  was  at  the  side,  at'  right  angles  to  that 
where  the  other  two  sat. 

The  table  began  to  creak,  to  raise  itself  partially,  then 
to  raise  itself  completely  a  distance  of  30  centimetres 
(1  foot)  from  the  floor. 


PHENOMENA   OF   LEVITATION  439 

The  room  was  then  completely  darkened,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  request  made  through  the  table  by  means 
of  raps. 

After  a  very  short  time,  suddenly  and  without  any  warn- 
ing, the  three  persons  above  mentioned  were  raised  at  the 
same  time  and  carried  on  to  the  table,  MM.  Fontana  and 
Gorli  standing,  Santangelo  kneeling.  This  difference  in 
position  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  force  in 
operation  was  not  completely  displayed  in  the  case  of 
Santangelo,  who  was  not  in  the  same  line  as  Fontana; 
and  it  had  to  leave  him  kneeling,  not  being  sufficiently 
powerful  to  raise  him  upright. 

In  any  case  there  must  have  been  a  force  capable  of 
raising  suddenly  and  instantaneously  three  persons,  two 
of  whom,  MM.  Gorli  and  Santangelo,  were  very  heavy. 

This  phenomenon  was  duly  authenticated  by  several 
persons,  including  Mme.  Ferri  and  M.  Siemiradzki. 
Meanwhile  the  medium  was  raised  above  the  table,  a 
phenomenon  witnessed  and  verified  by  the  majority  of 
the  sitters,  not  only  by  those  who  were  close  to  the 
medium,  but  also  by  Mme.  Ferri,  M.  Siemiradzki,  and 
myself,  who  were  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table.  We 
passed  our  hands  several  times  flatwise  underneath  the 
medium's  feet,  between  his  feet  and  the  table ;  he  was 
raised  about  10  centimetres  (4  inches). 

As  there  was  perfect  darkness  it  might  be  supposed 
that  the  two  feet  under  which  the  hands  were  passed 
were  not  those  of  the  medium,  but  that  one  belonged 
to  the  medium  and  the  other  to  M.  Gorli  standing  by  his 
side ;  we  therefore  brought  the  red  light  and  let  it  fall 
on  the  two  controllers,  and  asked  the  force  acting,  which 
was  said  to  be  a  spirit  named  Oscar,  to  reproduce  the 
phenomenon  while  the  medium  remained  on  the  table 
alone  and  held  by  controllers  to  right  and  left;  this 
challenge  was  accepted. 

The  room  was  again  placed  in  darkness,  and  the 
medium  felt  himself  raised  above  the  table. 

We  then  verified  very  clearly  that  he  was  raised  higher 
than  on  the  first  occasion,  since  a  majority  of  the  sitters 


440  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

could  pass  their  hands  under  his  feet,  not  only  flatwise 
as  previously,  but  with  the  hand  upright  on  its  edge. 

When  the  levitation  had  been  verified  the  medium 
came  down  on  to  the  table  again. 

Then  we  asked  the  spirit  to  bring  him  down  himself 
from  the  table ;  which  was  immediately  done.  During  the 
time  that  the  medium  was  gently  descending  he  con- 
tinued to  implore  us  not  to  let  go  his  hands. 

A  few  moments  after  the  medium  was  seated  in  his 
chair  he  was  suddenly  thrown  full  length  under  the  table 
with  such  force  that  M.  Gorli  was  dragged  with  him,  and 
Dr.  Santangelo  was  thrown  down. 

The  feet  of  the  medium  and  M.  Gorli  struck  ours,  and 
we  were  standing  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  table. 

We  asked  M.  Gorli  to  set  M.  Fontana  on  his  feet  again, 
but  after  a  few  attempts  he  told  us  that  M.  Fontana  was 
so  heavy  that  he  could  not  succeed  in  moving  him. 

Several  other  persons  also  tried  in  vain  to  raise  the 
medium. 

M.  Gorli  still  remained  beside  the  medium  ;  we  got  him 
to  stand  upright,  fearing  that  he  was  contributing  to  make 
M.  Fontana  heavy.  The  latter,  still  greatly  frightened, 
urged  MM.  Gorli  and  Santangelo  not  to  release  his  hands. 

M.  Siemiradzki,  a  tall  and  robust  man,  then  tried  to 
raise  the  medium,  but  he  soon  stated  that  M.  Fontana 
"  was  nailed  to  the  floor,"  and  that  he  could  not  succeed 
in  moving  him. 

Mme.  Ferri  also  wished  to  try,  but  she  met  with  the 
same  negative  result.  Professor  Ferri,  who  was  sitting  by 
my  side,  exclaimed  in  great  surprise:  "And  yet  my  wife 
is  stronger  than  a  man." 

Wc  finally  asked  the  spirit  Oscar  himself  to  raise  the 
medium  ;  he  was  put  back  on  to  his  chair  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye. 

Dr.  Santangelo  has  confirmed  to  me  these  facts  of 
levitation  obtained  in  the  seances  of  December  8th  and 
15th,  1893,  in  a  letter  from  which  I  have  made  the  follow- 
ing extract : — 

"  In  perfect  darkness  both  in  the  first  and  in  the  second 


PHENOMENA   OF   LEVITATION  441 

seance,  we  verified  the  levitation  of  the  medium  Ruggieri, 
who  Avas  raised  to  a  height  of  almost  a  yard  above  the 
level  of  the  table,  as  I  assured  myself,  a  fact  verified  in 
the  first  seance  by  Mile.  Possidini,  who  was  on  my  left, 
and  in  the  second  seance  by  Mme.  Ferri. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  evening,  the  medium,  after  having 
been  raised  in  the  air,  was  forcibly  drawn  under  the  table 
and  compelled  to  remain  motionless,  lying  on  his  back. 
Mme.  Ferri,  M.  and  Mme.  Siemiradzki,  and  myself  tried  to 
move  him  at  least  one  centimetre,  but  all  in  vain ;  he  was 
as  though  made  of  lead  and  firmly  welded  to  the  floor. 

"  There  is,  however,  more  to  relate.  On  the  second 
evening  an  event  occurred  which  strongly  impressed  me, 
and  which  still  impresses  me  every  time  I  repeat  it.  When 
the  medium  Ruggieri  commenced  to  rise  I  held  him  firmly 
by  the  hand,  but  seeing  myself  drawn  with  such  force  as 
almost  to  lose  my  footing  I  held  on  to  his  arms,  and  thus 
I  was  raised  in  the  air  with  my  companion,  who  was  on 
the  other  side  of  the  medium.  We  were  all  three  raised 
in  the  air  to  a  height  of  at  least  three  yards  above  the 
floor,  since  I  distinctly  touched  with  my  feet  the  hanging 
lamp  which  was  suspended  from  the  centre  of  the  ceiling. 

"During  the  rapid  descent,  the  light  being  turned 
on,  I  found  myself  kneeling  on  the  table,  almost  in  danger 
of  breaking  my  neck,  although  nothing  so  unpleasant 
happened  to  me. 

"Yes,  I  myself,  at  Rome,  flew  in  the  air  without  wings, 
and  this  I  can  attest  before  God  and  man,  but,  before  I 
was,  the  three  mediums  Cecrehini,  Ruggieri,  and  Boella 
were  also  raised  into  space  until  they  almost  touched  the 
ceiling." 

Here  is  also  another  example  of  the  levitation  of  a 
medium  under  special  test  conditions. 

Mr.  Macnab,  engineer,  published  in  1888  the  results 
of  his  experiments  in  the  Lotus  Rouge,  then  under  the 
management  of  M,  Gaboriau.  He  refers  to  levitations  as 
follows : — 

"  The  medium  M.  F.  is  frequently  raised  into  the  air 
during  the  seances ;  but  this  happens  more  frequently  to 


442  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

a  friend  of  mine,  M.  C,  a  sculptor,  who  is  also  a  medium. 
He  told  us  that  once  he  was  raised  along  with  his  chair. 
In  fact,  we  heard  his  voice  as  he  changed  his  position. 
Note  that  he  had  thick  shoes,  though  we  did  not  hear 
the  slightest  footstep ;  eventually,  Avhen  we  turned  on  the 
light,  he  was  found  seated  on  the  chair,  which  was  on  the 
bed.  Another  time,  having  accidentally  lighted  up  while 
he  was  levitated  on  the  music-stool,  he  fell  heavily  from 
a  height  of  from  fifty  to  sixty  centimetres,  so  heavily  that 
the  foot  of  the  stool  was  broken.  Three  engineers,  MM. 
Labro,  Th.,  and  M.,  were  witnesses. 

"It  seemed  to  me  important  to  have  more  palpable 
proofs  of  this  levitation  and  I  devised  the  following 
arrangements :  I  spread  out  on  the  ground  a  square  of 
very  thin  material  which  we  call  adrianople ;  it  is  a  kind 
of  calico  dyed  red.  In  the  centre  we  placed  a  chair,  and 
made  M.  C.  sit  on  it;  the  other  medium  M.  F.  was  not 
there.  We  each  held  a  corner  of  the  material,  and  as 
there  were  five  of  us,  one  of  the  corners  was  held  by  two 
people. 

"  I  put  out  the  light  and  almost  immediately  we  felt 
the  chair  rise,  remain  some  time  in  the  air,  and  then 
gently  descend.  The  material  was  not  even  stretched,  and 
the  least  strain  would  have  torn  it. 

"  This  experiment  greatly  frightened  M.  C.  The  per- 
sons present  were  M.  R.,  M.  C,  two  ladies,  and  myself. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  any  objection  can  be  raised  to 
this  experiment  of  the  levitation  of  a  medium,  verified  by 
means  of  material  stretched  under  the  chair. 

"  He  was  already  seated  in  the  chair  when  we  ex- 
tinguished the  light;  the  raising  took  place  almost  im- 
mediately. There  were  five  of  us  around  him,  and  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  descend  and  rise  again  without  our 
knowledge. 

"  Levitation  is  not  necessarily  vertical,  as  many  people 
think.  For  example,  in  the  presence  of  M.  de  Rochas,  the 
following  fact  occurred  which  I  observe  at  almost  every 
stance : — 

"  M.  C.  was  sitting  by  my  side,  against  the  window, 


PHENOMENA   OF   LEVITATION  443 

when  suddenly  he  was  removed  and  placed  against  the 
piano,  quite  close  to  M.  G.  This  was  done  so  rapidly, 
that  we  heard,  almost  simultaneously,  the  noise  which 
the  chair  made  in  rising  and  that  which  it  made  in 
coming  down  again ;  whilst  in  the  air,  it  had  turned  half 
round,  for  M.  C.  had  his  back  to  the  piano,  whereas  a 
moment  previously  he  had  it  against  the  window. 

"  In  one  seance  M.  Montorgueil,  and  in  another  M.  de 
Rochas,  passed  their  hands  under  the  medium's  feet  during 
his  ascent  and  were  able  to  assure  themselves  that  he  did 
not  employ  any  of  the  ordinary  processes  of  gymnastics." 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  OBSERVED  WITH   THE 
MEDIUM  D.  D.  HOME 

The  following  is  the  description  given  by  Mr.  Frank  Pod- 
more  of  the  ordinary  seances  with  the  medium  Home  : — 

"  The  room  was  commonly  illuminated  by  one  or  more 
candles,  a  single  gas-burner,  or  a  shaded  lamj),  so  that,  in 
comparison  with  the  almost  complete  darkness  insisted  on 
by  other  mediums,  it  could  honestly  be  described  as  well 
lighted. 

"  The  manifestations  would  then  usually  begin  with 
raps,  followed  shortly  by  a  quivering  movement  of  the 
table,  which  is  described  by  one  witness  as  like  the  vibra- 
tion in  the  cabin  of  a  small  steamer  when  the  engine 
begins  to  work;  by  another  as  resembling  a  'ship  in  dis- 
tress, with  its  timbers  straining  in  a  heavy  sea ' ;  and,  in  a 
finer  flight  of  imagination,  is  characterised  by  another 
witness  as  '  literally  trembling,  as  if  every  vein  of  the  wood 
was  a  human  nerve.'  The  table  would  then  tilt  up,  move 
about,  or  '  float '  suspended  in  the  air ;  musical  instru- 
ments would  perform  in  the  convenient  obscurity  aftbrded 
by  its  shelter ;  hands  would  be  felt  clasping  the  knees  of 
the  sitters  and  pulling  portions  of  their  dress ;  handker- 
chiefs, flowers,  and  other  light  articles,  and  even  heavy 
bells,  would  be  handed  about  the  circle,  under  the  tabic, 
by  the  same  means. 

"  The  performance  would  be  interspersed  with  messages 
rapped  out  by  the  spirits,  or  delivered  through  the  mouth 
of  the  entranced  medium.  At  this  point  the  sitting  would 
commonly  terminate.  But  if  the  conditions  were  judged 
favourable  to  the  higher  manifestations,  the  lights  would 
be   turned   out,   the  Are  screened,   and   the  table  draAvn 


I 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  445 

up  to  the  window,  the  company  sitting  round  three  sides, 
leaving  the  side  next  the  window  vacant,  with  Home 
sitting  at  one  end  of  the  vacant  space.  Hands  would 
then  be  seen,  outlined  against  the  faint  light  proceeding 
from  the  window,  to  rise  over  the  vacant  edge  of  the 
table,  move  about  the  papers  lying  on  its  surface,  or  give 
flowers  to  the  sitters.  Afterwards  the  medium  would  be 
levitated,  that  is  to  say,  suspended  in  the  air  without 
material  support." 

We  will  now  give  an  account  of  some  extraordinary 
instances  of  levitation,  at  a  seance  at  which  Sir  William 
Crookes  was  present.  Home  was  transported  from  one  room 
to  the  other,  externally,  through  the  windows,  at  a  great 
height  from  the  ground;  there  was  not  even  a  balcony 
or  projection  in  the  wall  between  the  two  windows. 

"  The  apparatus  prepared  for  testing  the  movements 
of  the  accordion  consisted  of  a  cage,  formed  of  two  wooden 
hoops,  one  foot  ten  inches  and  two  feet  diameter  re- 
spectively, connected  together  by  twelve  narrow  laths, 
each  one  foot  ten  inches  long,  so  as  to  form  a  drum- 
shaped  frame,  open  at  the  top  and  bottom  ;  round  this, 
fifty  yards  of  insulated  copper  wire  were  wound  in  twenty- 
four  rounds,  each  being  rather  less  than  an  inch  from  its 
neighbour.  The  horizontal  strands  of  wire  were  then 
netted  together  firmly  with  string,  so  as  to  form  meshes 
rather  less  than  two  inches  long  by  one  inch  high.  The 
height  of  this  cage  was  such  that  it  would  just  slip 'under 
my  dining-table,  but  be  too  close  to  the  top  to  allow  of 
the  hand  being  introduced  into  the  interior,  or  to  admit 
of  a  foot  being  pushed  underneath  it.  In  another  room 
were  two  Grove's  cells,  wires  being  led  from  them  into  the 
dining-room  for  connection,  if  desirable,  with  the  wires 
surrounding  the  cage. 

"  The  accordion  was  a  new  one,  having  been  purchased 
by  myself  for  the  purpose  of  these  experiments  at  Wheat- 
stone's  in  Conduit  Street.  Mr.  Home  had  neither  handled 
nor  seen  the  instrument  before  the  commencement  of  the 
test  experiments. 


446  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  Mr.  Home  sat  in  a  low  easy-chair  at  the  side  of  the 
table.  In  front  of  him  and  under  the  table  was  the  afore- 
said cage,  one  of  his  legs  being  on  each  side  of  it.  I  sat 
close  to  him  on  his  left,  and  another  observer  sat  close  to 
him  on  his  right,  the  rest  of  the  party  being  seated  at 
convenient  distances  round  the  table. 

"  For  the  greater  part  of  the  evening,  particularly  when 
anything  of  importance  was  proceeding,  the  observers  on 
each  side  of  Mr.  Home  kept  their  feet  respectively  on  his 
feet,  so  as  to  be  able  to  detect  his  sliohtest  movement. 

"The  temperature  of  the  room  varied  from  68  to  70 
degrees  Fahrenheit. 

"  Mr.  Home  took  the  accordion  between  the  thumb 
and  middle  finger  of  one  hand  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
keys.  To  save  repetition  this  will  be  subsequently  called 
'  in  the  usual  manner.' 

"  The  bass  key  having  been  previously  opened  by 
myself,  and  the  cage  being  drawn  from  under  the  table, 
so  as  just  to  allow  the  accordion  to  be  pushed  in  with 
its  keys  downward,  it  was  pushed  back  as  close  as  Mr. 
Home's  arm  would  permit,  but  without  hiding  his  hand 
from  those  next  to  him.  Very  soon  the  accordion  was 
seen  by  those  on  each  side  to  be  waving  about  in  a  some- 
what curious  manner;  then  sounds  came  from  it,  and 
finally,  several  notes  were  played  in  succession.  Whilst 
this  was  going  on  my  assistant  went  under  the  table,  and 
reported  that  the  accordion  was  expanding  and  contract- 
ing ;  at  the  same  time  it  was  seen  that  the  hand  of  Mr. 
Home  by  tvhich  it  was  held  was  quite  still,  his  other  hand 
resting  on  the  table. 

"  Presently  the  accordion  was  seen  by  those  on  either 
side  of  Mr.  Home  to  move  about,  oscillating  and  going 
round  and  round  the  cage,  and  playing  at  the  same  time. 
Dr.  A.  B.  now  looked  under  the  table,  and  said  that  Mr. 
Home's  hand  appeared  quite  still  whilst  the  accordion  was 
moving  about  emitting  distinct  sounds. 

"  Mr.  Home,  still  holding  the  accordion  in  the  usual 
manner  in  the  cage,  his  feet  being  held  b}^  those  next 
to  him,  and  his  other  hand  resting  on  the  table,  we  heard 


I 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  447 

distinct  and  separate  notes  sounded  in  succession,  and 
then  a  simple  air  was  played.  As  such  a  result  could 
only  have  been  produced  by  the  various  keys  of  the 
instrument  being  acted  upon  in  harmonious  succession, 
this  was  considered  by  those  present  to  be  a  crucial  ex- 
periment. But  the  sequel  was  still  more  striking,  for 
Mr.  Home  then  removed  his  hand  altogether  from  the 
accordion,  taking  it  quite  out  of  the  cage,  and  placed  it  in 
the  hand  of  the  person  next  to  him.  The  instrument 
then  continued  to  play,  no  person  touching  it,  and  no 
hand  being  near  it. 

"I  was  now  desirous  of  trying  what  would  be  the 
effect  of  passing  the  battery  current  round  the  insulated 
wire  of  the  cage,  and  my  assistant  accordingly  made  the 
connection  with  the  wires  from  the  two  Grove's  cells. 
Mr.  Home  again  held  the  instrument  inside  the  cage  in 
the  same  manner  as  before,  when  it  immediately  sounded 
and  moved  about  vigorously.  But  whether  the  electric 
current  passing  round  the  cage  assisted  the  manifestation 
of  force  inside  it,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

"  The  accordion  was  now  again  taken  without  any 
visible  touch  from  Mr.  Home's  hand,  which  he  removed 
from  it  entirely  and  placed  upon  the  table,  where  it  was 
taken  by  the  person  next  to  him,  and  seen,  as  now  were 
both  his  hands,  by  all  present.  I  and  two  of  the  others 
present  saw  the  accordion  distinctly  floating  about  inside 
the  cage  with  no  visible  support.  This  was  repeated  a 
second  time,  after  a  short  interval. 

"  Mr.  Home  presently  re-inserted  his  hand  in  the  cage, 
and  again  took  hold  of  the  accordion.  It  then  commenced 
to  play,  at  first  chords  and  runs,  and  afterwards  a  well 
known  sweet  and  plaintive  melody,  which  was  executed 
perfectly  in  a  very  beautiful  manner.  Whilst  this  tune 
was  being  played  I  grasped  Mr.  Home's  arm  below  the 
elbow,  and  gently  slid  my  hand  down  it  until  I  touched 
the  top  of  the  accordion.  He  was  not  moving  a  muscle. 
His  other  hand  was  on  the  table,  visible  to  all,  and  his 
feet  were  under  the  feet  of  those  next  to  him." 


448  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Levitations  of  Home 

These  levitations  were  witnessed  by  a  large  number 
of  people,  and  notably  by  Sir  William  Crookes,  who  has 
given  the  following  account  in  his  work,  Researches  in  the 
PhenoTiiena  of  Modern  Spiritualism. 

"  These  levitations  have  occurred  in  my  presence  on 
four  occasions  in  darkness.  The  test  conditions  under 
which  they  took  place  were  quite  satisfactory,  so  far  as 
the  judgment  was  concerned ;  but  ocular  demonstration 
of  such  a  fact  is  so  necessary  to  disturb  our  pre-formed 
opinions  as  to  the  naturally  possible  and  impossible,  that 
I  will  here  only  mention  cases  in  which  the  deductions 
of  reason  were  confirmed  by  the  sense  of  sight. 

"On  one  occasion  I  witnessed  a  chair,  with  a  lady 
sitting  on  it,  rise  several  inches  from  the  ground.  On 
another  occasion,  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  this  being  in 
some  way  performed  by  herself,  the  lady  knelt  on  the 
chair  in  such  a  manner  that  its  four  feet  were  visible  to 
us.  It  then  rose  about  three  inches,  remained  suspended 
for  about  ten  seconds,  and  then  slowly  descended. 

"  At  another  time  two  children,  on  separate  occasions, 
rose  from  the  floor  with  their  chairs,  in  full  daylight,  under 
(to  me)  most  satisfactory  conditions ;  for  I  was  kneeling 
and  keeping  close  watch  upon  the  feet  of  the  chair,  ob- 
serving distinctly  that  no  one  touched  them. 

"The  most  striking  cases  of  levitation  which  I  have 
witnessed  have  been  with  Mr.  Home.  On  three  separate 
occasions  have  I  seen  him  raised  completely  from  the 
floor  of  the  room.  Once  sitting  in  an  easy-chair,  once 
kneeling  on  his  chair,  and  once  standing  up.  On  each 
occasion  I  had  full  opportunity  of  watching  the  occur- 
rence as  it  was  taking  place. 

"  There  are  at  least  a  hundred  recorded  instances  of 
Mr.  Home's  rising  from  the  ground,  in  the  presence  of  as 
many  separate  persons,  and  I  have  heard  from  the  lips 
of  the  three  witnesses  to  the  most  striking  occurrences 
of  this  kind — the  Earl  of  Dunraven,  Lord  Lindsay,  and 


LEVITATION    PHENOMENA  449 

Captain  C.  Wynne — their  own  most  minute  accounts  of 
what  took  place.  To  reject  the  recorded  evidence  on  this 
subject  is  to  reject  all  human  testimony  whatever;  for  no 
fact  in  sacred  or  profane  history  is  supported  by  a  stronger 
array  of  proofs. 

"  The  accumulated  testimony  establishing  Mr.  Home's 
levitations  is  overwhelming.  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired 
that  some  person,  whose  evidence  would  be  accepted  as 
conclusive  by  the  scientific  world — if,  indeed,  there  lives 
a  person  whose  testimony  in  favour  of  such  phenomena 
would  be  taken — would  seriously  and  patiently  examine 
these  alleged  facts. 

"  Most  of  the  eye-witnesses  to  these  levitations  are 
now  living,  and  would,  doubtless,  be  willing  to  give  their 
evidence. 

"  The  best  cases  of  Home's  levitations  I  witnessed  were 
in  my  own  house.  On  one  occasion  he  went  to  a  clear 
part  of  the  room,  and,  after  standing  quietly  for  a  minute, 
told  us  he  was  rising.  I  saw  him  slowly  rise  up  with 
a  continuous  gliding  movement,  and  remain  about  six 
inches  off  the  ground  for  several  seconds,  when  he  slowly 
descended.  On  this  occasion  no  one  moved  from  their 
places.  Less  frequently  the  levitating  power  extended  to 
those  next  to  him.  Once  my  wife  was  thus  raised  off  the 
ground  in  her  chair." 

Sir  William  Crookes  wrote  to  Home  on  April  12, 1871 : — 

"You  need  not  hesitate  to  quote  me  as  one  of  your 
strongest  supporters.  Half-a-dozen  seances  of  the  kind 
held  yesterday,  with  some  qualified  scientific  men,  would 
be  sufficient  to  scientifically  establish  these  truths,  which 
would  then  become  as  incontestable  as  the  facts  of  elec- 
tricity." 

The  detailed  account  of  the  levitation  which  took 
place  on  December  16,  1868,  in  London,  in  a  dark  seance, 
in  the  presence  of  Lord  Lindsay,  Lord  Adare,  and  Captain 
Wynne,  was  given  to  the  Dialectical  Society  by  Lord 
Lindsay  in  the  following  terms : — 

"  Home,  who  had  gone  into  a  trance,  walked  about 
uneasily ;  he  then  went  into  the  hall.    While  he  was  away, 

2  F 


450  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

I  heard  a  whisper  in  my  ear :  '  He  will  go  out  of  one 
window  and  in  at  another.' 

"  I  was  alarmed  and  shocked  at  the  idea  of  so  dangerous 
an  experiment.  I  told  the  company  what  I  had  heard 
and  we  then  waited  for  Home's  return.  We  soon  heard 
the  window  of  the  other  room  raised,  and  almost  im- 
mediately we  saw  Home  floating  in  the  air  outside  our 
window.  The  moon  was  shining  full  into  the  room ;  my 
back  was  to  the  light,  and  I  saw  the  shadow  on  the  wall 
of  the  window-sill,  and  Home's  feet  about  six  inches  above 
it.  He  remained  in  this  position  for  a  few  seconds,  then 
raised  the  window  and  glided  into  the  room  feet  foremost 
and  sat  down. 

"  Lord  Adare  then  went  into  the  other  room,  and  notic- 
ing that  the  window  through  which  he  had  passed  was 
only  open  about  eighteen  inches,  he  expressed  his  surprise 
that  Home  was  able  to  pass  through  this  opening. 

"  The  medium,  still  entranced,  then  replied :  '  I  will 
show  you.'  Turning  his  back  to  the  window,  he  inclined 
backwards  and  was  projected  horizontally,  head  first,  the 
whole  body  completely  rigid,  and  then  he  returned  to  the 
room.  The  window  was  seventy  inches  from  the  floor ; 
the  two  windows  were  7  feet  6  inches  apart,  and  only  one 
had  a  sill  about  a  foot  wide  for  flower-pots," 


CHAPTER   XXXIl 
LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  WITH   EUSAPIA  PALADINO 

Levitations  of  Eusapia  Paladino 

1.  Levitations  at  Naples  in  1899. — Cavaliere  Chiaia,  at 
the  Spiritist  Congress  in  1899,  gave  an  account  of  the 
experiments  he  had  made  at  Naples  with  Eusapia  in  the 
presence  of  Professor  Don  Manuel  Otero  Acevedo  of 
Madrid  and  Signer  Tassi  of  Perugia. 

The  medium  was  in  trance,   and  the  gas  had   been 
lowered  at  her  request. 

After  a  few  minutes,  during  which  time  nothing  was 
heard  but  the  usual  grinding  of  the  medium's  teeth  while 
she  was  in  a  lethargic  condition,  Eusapia,  instead  of  con- 
versing, as  she  always  does,  in  a  very  bad  Neapolitan 
dialect,  began  to  speak  in  pure  Italian,  asking  the  persons 
seated  on  either  side  of  her  to  hold  her  hands  and  feet. 
Then,  without  hearing  the  least  rubbing  or  any  rapid 
movement  of  her  body,  or  the  slightest  undulation  of  the 
table  around  which  we  all  were,  MM.  Otero  and  Tassi, 
who  were  nearest  to  the  medium,  were  the  first  to  per- 
ceive an  unexpected  ascent,  for  they  felt  their  arms 
gently  raised,  and  not  wishing  to  leave  hold  of  the 
medium's  hands  they  stood,  so  as  to  follow  her  in  her 
levitation. 

This  splendid  case  of  levitation  is  all  the  more  worthy 
of  attention,  because  it  took  place  under  the  most  rigorous 
control,  and  with  the  same  apparent  ease  with  which  a 
pen  could  be  lifted.  What  particularly  surprised  these 
gentlemen  was  to  feel  the  two  feet  of  the  medium  placed 
on  the  small  surface  of  the  table  (32  inches  by  24  inches), 
already  partly   covered  by  the  hands   of  the  four   ex- 


452  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

perimenters,  without  any  of  these  hands  being  touched, 
ahhough  it  took  place  in  perfect  darkness. 

Although  astounded  by  so  extraordinary  and  un- 
expected an  event,  one  of  us  asked  John  if  it  would  be 
possible  to  raise  the  medium  a  little  above  the  table,  with 
feet  together,  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  us  to  witness  the 
levitation  better.  At  once,  without  discussing  this  exacting 
request,  Eusapia  was  raised  from  four  to  six  inches  above 
the  table,  so  that  each  of  us  could  freely  put  his  hand 
under  the  feet  of  the  "  magician  "  suspended  in  the  air. 

In  relating  this  to  you  I  do  not  know  which  feeling 
is  stronger  in  me,  whether  it  is  satisfaction  at  having 
obtained  so  magnificent  and  marvellous  a  phenomenon,  or 
whether  it  is  the  painful  suspicion  of  being  taken  for  a 
visionary,  even  by  my  most  intimate  friends. 

Happily  there  were  four  of  us,  including  the  ever- 
suspicious  Spaniard,  and  two  believers  well  disposed  to 
accept  the  evidence  of  facts. 

When  our  magician  came  down  from  the  table  without 
our  assistance,  and  with  a  dexterity  no  less  marvellous 
than  that  employed  in  mounting  it,  we  had  other  reasons 
for  astonishment.  We  found  the  medium  stretched  out,  her 
head  and  a  small  portion  of  her  back  supported  on  the  top 
of  the  table,  and  the  remainder  of  the  body  extended  hori- 
zontally, straight  as  a  bar,  and  without  any  support  to  the 
lower  part,  whilst  her  dress  was  adhering  to  her  legs  as  if 
her  clothing  was  fastened  or  stitched  around  her.  Although 
produced  in  darkness,  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  that  this 
important  fact  was  scrupulously  supervised  with  the  greatest 
possible  care  by  all,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  as 
evident  as  though  it  had  taken  place  in  broad  daylight. 

Further,  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  witnessing 
something  more  extraordinary  still.  One  evening  I  saw 
the  medium  stretched  out  rigid  in  the  most  complete  cata- 
leptic state,  holding  herself  in  a  horizontal  position,  with 
only  her  head  resting  on  the  edge  of  the  table  for  five 
minutes,  with  the  gas  lighted  and  in  the  presence  of 
Professor  do  Cinties,  Dr.  Capuano,  the  well-known  writer, 
M.  Frederic  Verdinois,  and  other  persons. 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  455 


Levitations  at  Warsaw  in  1893  and  1894 

Eusapia  came  to  Warsaw  at  the  end  of  1893,  and 
remained  there  during  January  1894.  She  was  examined 
by  several  persons,  and  became  the  subject  of  very  warm 
controversy. 

There  were  several  cases  of  levitation  rather  badly 
described  in  the  extract  from  the  report  given  by  the 
Revue  de  V Hypnotisme.     Here  is  a  very  clear  one. 

Once,  relates  M.  Matazewski,  I  was  a  witness  to  the 
raising  of  the  medium  in  the  air  in  the  middle  of  a  room 
without  any  support.  She  was  then  in  a  state  of  trance, 
and  was  raised  gradually,  slowly,  and  lightly  in  the  air 
(still  in  a  standing  position),  and  came  down  again  to 
the  floor  as  slowly  and  smoothly.  It  was  as  though 
some  one  had  raised  and  lowered  the  medium.  Eusapia 
remained  suspended  in  the  air  long  enough  for  us  to  freely 
pass  our  hands  under  her  feet,  to  make  perfectly  sure 
that  she  was  not  touching  the  floor.  She  was  raised  to  a 
height  of  several  inches.  The  phenomenon  was  four  times 
repeated. 

Dr.  Ochorowicz  has  thus  spoken  of  the  levitations  in 
L Illustration  of  Warsaw. 

"Another  most  surprising  and  very  rare  fact  (also 
obtained  at  the  Congress  at  Milan)  was  the  complete 
levitation  of  the  very  person  of  the  medium,  who,  held 
throughout  by  the  hands  and  feet,  was  raised  from  the 
ground  and  carried  in  a  cataleptic  condition  along  with 
her  chair  on  to  the  table. 

" '  I  will  raise  my  medium  in  the  air,'  Eusapia  said  in 
very  correct  French  (a  language  she  does  not  know  in  her 
normal  condition),  and  she  was  actually  raised.  Such 
was  at  least  my  impression  during  several  seconds.  By 
passing  my  hand  under  her  boots  I  am  able  to  testify  that 
there  was  a  space  of  from  four  to  five  inches  between  them 
and  the  table. 

"  On  another  occasion  the  medium  was  suddenly  raised 
from  the  floor.     She  was  standing,  and  Mme.  Ochorowicz 


454  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

had  time  to  pass  her  hand  between  Eusapia's  feet  and  the 
floor.  The  levitation  over,  the  medium,  still  m  a  semi- 
conscious condition,  walked  towards  the  table,  and  putting 
her  hands  on  it  tried  to  imitate  very  clumsily,  or  perhaps 
to  produce,  a  fresh  rising  in  the  air.  '  This  peculiarity 
is  worthy  of  note,'  said  M.  de  Siemiradzki,  who  was  a 
witness,  and  it  is  to  similar  automatic  movements,  very 
easy  to  distinguish  from  real  phenomena,  that  we  ought, 
in  many  cases,  to  attribute  the  apparent  fraud  of  which 
Eusapia  is  often  accused." 

Here  is  the  report  of  a  number  of  experiments  in  the 
levitation  of  Eusapia  Paladino,  given  by  Colonel  de  Rochas, 
who  has  himself  taken  part  in  them  and  has  been  able 
to  control  the  phenomenon  under  the  most  favourable 
conditions. 

Levitation  at  VAgnelas 

In  September  1895  Eusapia  came  to  France  to  my 
country-house,  situated  at  I'Agn^las,  near  to  Voiron  (Isere) 
in  order  to  be  studied  by  a  committee  consisting  of  M. 
Sabatier,  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Sciences  of  Montpellier ; 
Colonel  de  Rochas,  administrator  of  the  Polytechnic 
School ;  Count  Arnaud  de  Grammont,  Doctor  of  Science ; 
Dr.  Dariex,  Doctor  of  Medicine,  Director  of  the  Annales 
des  Sciences  Psycltiques ;  M.  Maxwell,  Deputy  Procurator- 
General  at  Limoges ;  Baron  de  Watteville,  a  graduate  in 
science  and  law. 

There  was  a  levitation  in  the  seance  of  September  27th. 
The  official  report  published  by  the  committee  thus  de- 
scribes the  phenomenon : — 

10.50. — MM.  do  Grammont,  Sabatier,  and  dc  Rochas 
were  successively  touched  on  the  head,  shoulder,  back, 
and  arm.  At  this  moment  Dr.  Dariex,  who  was  tired,  left 
the  seance,  Dr.  Maxwell  giving  up  his  place  on  the  left  of 
Eusapia  to  Colonel  dc  Rochas,  and  Count  de  Grammont 
leaving  his  place  as  control  of  Eusapia's  legs  and  going  to  the 
right,  replacing  M.  Sabatier ;  M.  Ed.  de  Rochas  hold  the  left 
hand  and  Count  do  Grammont  the  right  hand  of  Eusapia. 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  455 

Eusapia  asked  that  the  table  might  be  moved  away 
from  the  window  and  brought  into  the  middle  of  the 
drawing-room.  The  hands  were  controlled  as  stated 
above ;  her  right  foot  rested  on  the  left  foot  of  Count  de 
Grammont,  and  her  left  on  the  right  foot  of  Colonel  de 
Rochas. 

Eusapia  on  several  occasions  said,  "Altare,  altare," 
meaning  "  Rise,  rise,"  indicating  that  she  wished  to  try 
to  rise.  She  made  Count  de  Grammont  and  M.  Ed.  de 
Rochas,  who  held  her  two  hands,  repeat  the  movement 
of  accompanying  her  hands  in  the  air,  but  without  any 
traction  or  noticeable  resistance.  After  a  few  minutes, 
and  in  almost  perfect  darkness,  in  which  our  outlines 
could  scarcely  be  distinguished,  Eusapia,  without  support- 
ing herself  on  the  hands  of  the  controllers,  who  simply 
followed  hers,  or  on  the  feet  of  the  same  observers  on 
which  hers  rested,  appeared  to  Count  de  Grammont,  who 
held  her  right  hand,  to  be  raised  whilst  seated,  with  a  con- 
tinuous and  rather  rapid  movement,  not  by  a  bound  or 
appreciable  jump,  but  somewhat  as  though  going  up  in  a 
lift.  The  chair  was  raised  with  her,  and  Eusapia's  feet 
came  almost  as  high  as  the  table.  The  observers  rose  at 
the  same  time  in  order  to  follow  the  movement. 

From  this  moment  she  escaped  from  the  control  of  the 
two  observers,  her  hands  being  released.  M,  Sabatier, 
who  was  at  the  right  of  Count  de  Grammont,  tried  to 
ascertain  by  touch,  in  the  darkness,  whether  Eusapia, 
when  she  was  being  raised,  placed  her  knee  on  the  table 
as  a  lever,  but  he  could  not  be  certain  of  anything. 
Count  de  Grammont  and  Colonel  de  Rochas  stated  that 
Eusapia  had  been  raised  with  her  chair  nearly  to  the 
height  of  the  table,  without  exerting  any  pressure  on 
them  and  without  supporting  herself  on  their  hands  or 
their  feet. 

The  surprise  caused  confusion  and  perceptible  relaxa- 
tion of  the  control.  The  only  thing  ascertained  Avas  that 
Eusapia  was  standing  on  the  table  along  with  her  chair. 

She  tried  to  rise  again  vertically ;  M.  Sabatier  quickly 
passed  his  hand  under  the  soles  of  Eusapia's  feet  and 


456  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

found  that  her  heels  were  raised  above  the  table,  but  that 
Eusapia  was  supporting  herself  on  the  extremities  of  her 
feet  and  toes,  as  though  standing  on  tiptoe. 

Eusapia  then  collapsed ;  her  neighbours  received  her 
in  their  arms  and  seated  her  on  the  ground. 

We  ought  to  add  that  one  of  the  persons  who  was 
quite  close  to  the  table  almost  completely  fainted  away, 
not  from  emotion,  but  through  weakness,  saying  that 
he  felt  drained  of  strength  as  the  result  of  Eusapia's 
efforts. 

Some  years  ago  Eusapia  gave  a  series  of  experiments 
at  Genoa,  which  were  scientifically  controlled  by  Professor 
Porro.  We  shall  only  give  here  that  portion  of  Pro- 
fessor Porro's  account  which  refers  to  the  phenomenon  of 
levitation. 

So  far  as  he  was  concerned.  Professor  Porro,  at  the 
commencement  of  his  experiments,  openly  declared  that 
he  was  neither  materialist  nor  spiritualist ;  he  was  not 
ready  to  accept  a  'priori  either  the  negations  of  the 
psycho-physiologists  or  the  beliefs  of  the  spiritists. 

However,  Professor  Porro  remarked  that  he  knew 
pretty  nearly  what  to  expect  in  Eusapia's  seances,  because 
of  the  reports  he  had  read  in  the  papers  and  the  reviews, 
but  more  especially  in  the  two  very  important  works  of 
Colonel  de  Rochas  and  Dr.  Vcsani-Scozzi. 

He  added  that  the  nine  persons  who  Avere  present  with 
him  at  the  two  seances  represented  the  most  diverse 
shades  of  opinion  on  the  subject,  from  the  most  convinced 
spiritists  to  the  most  incorrigible  sceptics.  Moreover,  his 
task  Avas  not  to  write  an  official  report,  approved  by  all 
the  experimenters,  but  merely  to  report  faithfully  his  own 
impressions. 

Professor  Porro  did  not  omit  to  give  a  detailed  de- 
scription of  the  premises  of  the  Minerva  Club,  where  the 
first  seances  were  held.  The  premises  consisted  of  an 
ante-room,  three  other  rooms,  and  the  hall  in  which  the 
experiments  took  place. 

This  room  measured  seventeen  feet  each  way.  On 
the  south-west  side  were  two  windows,  the  one  provided 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  457 

with  an  iron  grating  and  the  other  with  outside  wooden 
blinds. 

The  windows  remained  closed  during  the  seances ;  the 
opening  of  each  window  was  separated  from  the  remainder 
of  the  room  by  heavy  red  curtains,  to  which  were  attached 
large  black  cloths.  Bands  of  the  same  material  were 
fastened  against  the  window-panes,  so  as  to  prevent  all 
passage  of  light  and  all  communication  with  the  street. 

Every  evening,  before  commencing  the  experiments, 
the  entrance  doors  were  closed,  and  the  various  rooms 
which  composed  the  small  flat  carefully  inspected.  Then 
the  doors  on  the  north-west,  which  gave  access  to  the 
other  rooms,  were  closed,  and  there  was  left  open  only 
that  on  the  north-east,  leading  into  the  ante-room,  in  a 
corner  of  which  a  candle  was  kept  burning. 

This  light  was  sufficient  to  allow  the  phenomena  which 
took  place  on  the  table  and  on  the  curtains  to  be  indis- 
tinctly seen,  when,  in  accordance  with  the  instructions 
given  by  means  of  raps  on  the  table,  the  gas  and  the 
electric  light  (white  and  red)  had  to  be  extinguished  in 
the  hall  where  the  experiments  were  held. 

During  the  seances  the  hands  of  the  medium  were 
always  held  by  those  nearest  to  her  on  the  right  and 
left ;  these,  in  turn,  formed  a  chain  with  the  three  other 
experimenters.  The  five  persons  of  the  circle  who,  await- 
ing their  turn,  did  not  form  part  of  the  chain,  were  at  the 
other  end  of  the  hall,  in  a  locked  enclosure  erected  for 
the  purpose. 

In  the  official  account  of  the  first  seance  Professor 
Porro  said  that  he  had  not  seen  certain  lights  which  some 
of  his  companions  said  they  had  seen. 

"  But  I  have  seen,  and  that  clearly,"  he  added,  "  the 
table,  of  unpolished  pine  wood,  with  four  legs,  a  yard  long 
and  two  feet  wide,  rise  several  times  from  the  floor  and 
remain  suspended  in  the  air,  without  any  contact  with 
visible  objects,  a  foot  or  two  above  the  floor,  for  the  space 
of  two,  three,  or  even  four  seconds. 

"  This  phenomenon  was  repeated  in  full  light,  without 
the  hands  of  the  medium  or  of  the  five  persons  who 


458  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

formed  the  chain  around  the  table  touching  it  in  any 
way  ;  Eusapia's  hands  were  supervised  by  her  neighbours, 
who  also  controlled  her  legs  and  feet,  in  such  a  way  that 
no  part  of  her  body  could  exert  the  least  pressure  to  raise 
or  keep  in  the  air  so  heavy  a  piece  of  furniture." 

In  another  experiment  Professor  Porro  took  an  instan- 
taneous photograph  by  magnesium  light,  which  clearly 
shows  the  levitation  of  the  table.     (See  Fig.  13.) 

The  hands  of  the  experimenters  as  well  as  those  of  the 
medium  are  placed  on  the  table.  We  can  clearly  dis- 
tinguish both  feet  of  the  medium,  and  we  can  see  that  her 
left  foot  is  held  by  that  of  the  control  on  the  left.  No 
one  could  raise  the  objection  of  a  collective  hallucination 
after  seeing  this  photograph. 

In  another  seance  Professor  Porro  thus  describes  the 
levitation  of  the  medium : — 

"  The  trance  was  very  deep  and  more  painful  than 
usual. 

"  Suddenly  the  medium  raised  both  her  hands,  grasped 
by  mine  and  those  of  No.  5  (Professor  MorseUi),  and  while 
uttering  meanings,  cries,  and  exhortations,  she  was  quickly 
raised  with  her  chair,  until  both  her  two  feet  and  the  two 
front  feet  of  the  chair  were  set  down  on  the  front  of  the 
table. 

"It  was  a  moment  of  great  anxiety.  The  levitation 
was  accomplished  without  any  shock,  rapidly,  but  without 
any  sudden  jerks. 

"  In  other  words,  if  one  wished  by  an  effort  of  supreme 
scepticism,  to  imagine  an  artifice  capable  of  producing  the 
same  result,  one  would  have  to  think  rather  of  a  traction 
from  above,  by  means  of  a  cord  and  a  pulley,  than  of  a 
push  from  below. 

"  But  these  two  hypotheses  will  neither  of  them  stand 
the  most  elementary  examination  of  the  facts. 

"  Nor  is  this  all.  Eusapia  was  again  raised,  with  her 
chair,  from  the  upper  part  of  the  table,  so  that  No.  11  on 
the  one  side  and  m3^self  on  the  other  were  able  to  pass 
our  hands  under  the  feet  of  the  medium  as  well  as  under 
those  of  the  chair. 


Fig.  13. — Instantaneous  photograph,  showing  levitation  of  a  table. 


LEVITATION   PHENOMENA  459 

"  Moreover,  the  fact  that  the  two  back  feet  of  the  chair 
remained  beyond  the  table,  without  any  visible  means  of 
support,  made  the  results  of  this  levitation  still  more  irre- 
concilable with  the  supposition  that  Eusapia  was  raised 
by  means  of  a  leap  which  she  had  taken,  dragging  the 
chair  with  her. 

"  Eusapia  came  down  again  without  any  jerk,  by  degrees, 
held  all  the  time  by  her  hands  by  No.  5  and  myself;  the 
chair,  which  rose  a  little  higher,  turned  over  and  placed 
itself  on  my  head,  from  which  position  it  spontaneously 
returned  to  the  floor." 

In  another  seance  levitations  of  an  object  were  mani- 
fested in  full  light. 

"Scarcely  was  the  electric  light  extinguished,"  said 
Professor  Porro,  "  than  we  noticed  an  automatic  move- 
ment of  the  chair  on  which  had  been  placed  a  plaster 
block,  while  Eusapia's  hands  and  feet  were  carefully 
controlled  by  myself  and  No.  3.  At  all  events,  as  if  in 
order  to  forestall  the  objection  that  the  phenomena 
occurred  in  darkness,  the  table  asked  typtologically  for 
light  and  the  experimenters  lighted  the  electric  lamp. 

"  Immediately  all  present  saw  the  chair  on  which  was 
the  plaster  block,  which  was  anything  but  light,  moved 
between  myself  and  the  medium,  without  being  able  to 
comprehend  what  caused  the  movement. 

"  Mme.  Paladino  placed  my  extended  hand  on  the 
back  of  the  chair  and  put  her  left  hand  on  it ;  when  our 
hands  were  raised,  the  chair  was  also  raised  without  con- 
tact to  a  height  of  about  six  inches. 

"  The  phenomenon  was  repeated  several  times,  also 
with  the  intervention  of  the  hand  of  No.  5,  under  condi- 
tions of  light  and  of  control  which  left  nothing  to  be 
desired." 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS 

General  Investigations 

In  the  facts  which  we  are  about  to  examine  two  new 
phenomena  will  make  their  appearance:  those,  namely, 
of  materialisation  and  of  dematerialisation. 

These  two  phenomena  which  appear  very  difficult  to 
explain,  have  been  observed  in  a  rigorous  and  scientific 
manner  by  witnesses  of  such  authority  and  scientific 
standing,  that  they  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  doubtful. 
They  appear  to  indicate  modifications  of  material  elements 
under  the  influence  of  the  medium. 

From  the  first  general  view  of  cases  of  this  nature 
which  have  been  observed  and  verified  we  are  able  to 
draw  the  following  conclusions : — 

1.  The  medium  can  produce  effects  which  seem  to  be 
caused  by  a  solid  material  body,  which  manifests  itself 
only  to  the  sense  of  touch,  or  by  the  material  traces  which 
it  leaves  on  other  bodies.  We  have  in  many  cases  attri- 
buted these  phenomena  to  an  externalisation  of  force  from 
the  medium. 

As  examples,  we  have  the  experiment  with  Eusapia 
Paladino  reported  by  Dr.  Allain,  in  the  course  of  the 
seances  which  were  held  at  the  Societe  Universelle 
d'Etudes  Psychiques  at  Paris;  the  imprints  and  moulds 
produced  by  Eusapia  and  other  mediums,  &c. 

2.  The  medium  produces  the  apparition  of  a  visible 
and  tangible  material  form.  This  takes  the  form  of  some 
l)art  of  the  human  body,  head,  hand,  arm,  &c. 

These  members  have  not  generally  the  same  appear- 
ance as  the  corresponding  portions  of  the  medium's  body. 

3.  The  medium  produces  the  formation  of  a  material 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS      461 

form  representing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  human 
body :  bust  or  incompletely  formed  body. 

4.  In  certain  cases  it  has  been  proved  that  the 
medium's  body  lost  a  part  of  its  weight,  in  proportion 
as  the  materialisation  became  more  complete. 

It  seems,  therefore,  in  such  cases  that  the  materialised 
form  borrows  a  portion  of  the  material  elements  of  the 
medium's  body. 

5.  The  medium  produces  the  formation  of  a  material 
form  representing  a  complete  body  identical  with  the 
medium's  body.  These  are  the  cases  which  are  called 
Projection  of  the  Double  or  Bi-location. 

6.  The  medium  produces  the  formation  of  a  material 
form  of  human  appearance,  this  body  being  absolutely 
dissimilar  to  the  medium's  body. 

7.  In  this  latter  case,  whatever  may  be  the  origin  of 
the  material  element  of  which  the  body  is  constituted,  its 
form  seems  to  depend  upon  the  dominating  thought  of 
the  circle  in  which  it  is  formed. 

In  America  and  England,  where  the  evocation  of  the 
dead  and  reincarnations  are  believed  in,  the  forms  of 
deceased  relatives  are  often  seen  to  appear. 

In  France,  where  the  most  diverse  views  are  held,  all 
kinds  of  apparitions  are  seen,  but  always  according  to 
the  dominant  thought  of  the  circle. 

The  apparition  appears  in  a  costume  such  as  those 
present  imagine  ought  to  belong  to  the  nationality  or 
period  to  which  it  belongs. 

The  form  of  the  apparition  sometimes  depends  for  its 
origin  upon  the  medium,  who  suggests  to  the  circle  the 
idea  of  the  form  which  is  expected  to  be  seen. 

8.  The  apparition  thus  produced  possesses  certain  attri- 
butes of  a  material  body :  it  can  touch  the  spectators,  speak 
and  enter  into  conversation  with  them,  touch  and  transport 
objects. 

9.  The  apparition  can  be  photographed. 

10.  These  apparitions  or  materialisations  are  intimately 
connected  with  the  action  of  a  medium,  whose  presence  is 
necessary  for  the  production  of  the  phenomenon. 


462  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

11.  The  materialisation  is  most  frequently  seen  in  the 
same  place  where  the  medium  is;  but,  if  the  medium's 
presence  is  customary,  it  is  not  indispensable,  and  there 
are  some  cases  in  which  an  apparition  is  produced  under 
the  influence  of  a  medium,  but  at  some  distance  from  the 
place  in  which  he  is. 

These  phenomena  are  connected  with  a  force  still 
almost  unknown,  and  it  is  necessary  to  beware  of  follow- 
ing the  lead  of  some,  who  are  strongly  inclined  to  the 
marvellous,  and  who,  not  daring  to  fathom  their  depths, 
insist  on  regarding  them  as  supernatural  interventions. 

In  all  ages,  the  most  serious-minded  people  who  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  examine  the  facts  have  appreciated 
them  at  their  true  value.  Saint  Augustine  in  his  City 
of  God  speaks  of  a  case  of  projection  of  the  double  and 
of  materialisation  under  the  form  of  an  animal,  and  gives 
some  explanations  which  are  worth  recording. 

"  I  shall  never  believe,"  he  says,  in  explanation  of  the 
fact,  "  that  demons  have  the  art  or  ability,  I  do  not  say  to 
change  the  spirit  of  a  man,  but  even  to  give  to  his  body 
the  form  and  proportions  of  that  of  an  animal. 

"  I  would  rather  believe  that  in  this  man  the  element 
of  imagination  which  is  transformed  into  phantoms,  assum- 
ing the  infinitely  varied  aspect  of  external  thmgs  under 
the  influence  of  thoughts  or  dreams,  and  although  mcor- 
poreal,  taking  on  with  marvellous  celerity  the  representa- 
tion of  the  body — I  would  rather  believe,  I  say,  that  this 
element,  when  the  senses  are  dulled  or  deadened,  can,  in 
some  inexplicable  manner,  be  presented  to  the  senses  of 
others  in  corporeal  form. 

"  Thus,  while  this  body  lies  somewhere,  still  alive,  but 
with  the  senses  more  strongly  bound  than  during  sleep, 
the  phantom  of  his  imagination,  incorporated  so  to  speak 
under  the  form  of  some  animal,  appears  to  the  senses  of 
other  people,  and  he  sees  himself  as  in  dreams,  carrying 
burdens  under  this  form."     (Book  xviii.,  c.  23.) 

It  is  evident,  from  the  same  work,  that  the  theory 
here  put  forward  by  Saint  Augustine,  whose  authority 
from  the  philosophical  point  of  view  no  one  has  doubted. 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS      463 

is  applied  in  his  mind,  not  only  to  cases  of  projection 
of  the  double  or  bi-location,  but  also  to  all  cases  of 
materialisation. 

In  fact,  the  case  of  which  he  speaks  here  is  not  one 
of  the  projection  of  the  double,  but  a  true  case  of  mate- 
rialisation, such  as  we  still  see,  since  it  relates  to  the 
apparition  of  an  animal  form,  therefore  one  quite  dis- 
similar to  that  of  the  subject. 

We  might  be  led  into  error  by  the  expression  "the 
element  of  the  imagination  which  is  transformed  into 
phantoms  " — we  might,  I  say,  from  this  expression  only, 
think  that  the  author  is  referring  simply  to  hallucina- 
tions. But  his  idea  is  much  more  extensive,  and  he  is 
careful  to  develop  and  explain  it  in  the  next  sentence,  by 
saying :  "  The  phantom  of  his  imagination,  incorporated 
so  to  speak  under  the  form  of  some  animal,  appears  to  the 
senses  of  other  people,  and  he  sees  himself,  as  in  dreams, 
carrying  burdens  under  this  form." 

There  is,  therefore,  no  doubt ;  he  does  not  say 
"  appears  to  the  sight,"  but  "  appears  to  the  senses " ; 
meaning  that  the  phantom  not  only  strikes  the  sense  of 
sight,  but  all  the  senses ;  and,  further,  this  phantom  is 
capable  of  action,  since  he  says,  "  carrying  burdens." 

This  explanation,  therefore,  has  in  view  apparitions  pre- 
senting all  the  characteristics  which  we  have  ascribed  to 
the  materialisation  phenomena  which  we  are  considering. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  whose  authority  as  a  scientist 
is  universally  recognised,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  has  expressed 
himself  as  follows  regarding  the  action  of  mind  upon 
matter : — 

"  The  action  of  mind  on  matter,  the  reaction  of  matter 
on  mind,  are  these,  after  all,  commonplaces  ?  In  this  case, 
where  will  the  possibilities  stop  ? 

"Here  is  a  room  where  a  tragedy  has  taken  place, 
where  the  human  mind  has  been  submitted  to  the  most 
intense  anguish.  Are  the  traces  of  this  agony  still  there, 
and  are  these  traces  perceptible  to  a  mind  in  vibratory 
harmony  with  them  or  receptive  ?  I  affirm  nothing,  save 
that,  there  is  nothing  here  that  is  inconceivable.     If  that 


464  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

happens,  the  phenomenon  may  assume  several  forms : 
vague  uneasiness,  perhaps,  or  imaginary  sounds,  or  in- 
distinct visions,  or  again,  perhaps,  a  dream  or  a  picture  of 
the  event  as  it  is  represented.  Be  it  understood  that  I  do 
not  consider  these  things  as  being  so  conclusively  proved 
as  other  phenomena  I  have  studied;  but  belief  in  such 
facts  may  be  forced  on  us,  and  the  imputation  of  supersti- 
tion, when  applied  to  them,  is  without  justification.  If 
they  are  true,  they  will  take  their  place  in  a  well-ordered 
universe  by  the  side  of  others  having  affinity  with  them, 
but  with  the  advantage  of  being  better  known. 

"  There  are  also  the  objects  left  behind.  Is  it  admis- 
sible that  an  object  of  this  kind,  a  lock  of  hair,  an  old 
garment,  retains  some  characteristic  of  a  dead  person  or 
some  vestige  of  the  personality  ?  And  what  of  a  letter  ? 
A  painting  ?  We  call  the  artist  an  old  master.  Certainly, 
much  of  the  personality  of  the  old  master  may  be  thus 
preserved.  The  emotion  experienced  on  looking  at  a 
work  is  a  sort  of  transmission  of  thought  emanating  from 
the  deceased.  A  painting  differs  from  a  piece  of  music 
in  that  it  is  a  sort  of  perpetual  incarnation  of  himself. 
All  can  see  it,  some  only  can  comprehend  it.  Music 
demands  incarnation.  It  can  be  executed,  as  we  say,  and 
then  appreciated,  but  only  by  a  mind  in  unison  with  the 
author  and  able  to  think ;  therein  resides,  in  the  order  of 
things,  transmission  of  thought,  but  it  is  a  delayed  trans- 
mission of  thought.  This  fact  can  be  assimilated  to  tele- 
pathy, but  to  a  telepathy  not  only  acting  at  a  distance  in 
space,  but  at  a  distance  in  time.  (As  stated  in  an  article  in 
Light  it  would  not  be  a  question  of  technical  telepathy, 
because  here  the  phenomenon  is  produced  by  the  usual 
ways  and  means;  true  telepathy  always  operates  by  un- 
accustomed ways  and  means.) 

"  Let  us  reflect  on  these  great  things  and  not  be 
unduly  sceptical  with  regard  to  the  small  ones.  We 
should,  certainly,  always  maintain  an  attitude  of  sound 
and  critical  investigation,  and  in  this  sense  a  certain  degree 
of  scepticism  is  not  only  legitimate  but  necessary.  The 
class  of  scepticism  I  abhor  is  not  that  which  seriously 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS         465 

questions  and  submits  everything  to  rigorous  proofs,  it 
is  rather  that  which  peremptorily  affirms  and  dogmati- 
cally denies ;  but  this  is  not  true  scepticism  in  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  word,  because  it  rejects  research  and 
prohibits  examination.  It  is  too  positive  as  regards  the 
limits  of  .knowledge  and  the  exact  point  where  super- 
stition commences. 

"  Occult  phenomena  and  dreams,  phantoms,  crystal 
visions,  premonitions,  clairvoyance — all  are  superstitions  ! 
Yes,  but  perhaps  they  are  also  in  the  domain  of  facts.  As 
far  as  they  impose  on  our  credulity  they  are  only  trifles 
as  compared  with  the  things  with  which  we  are  already 
familiar,  even  very  familiar,  in  our  foolish  incapacity  to 
understand  them." 

The  different  observations  we  have  made  on  the  subject 
of  cases  of  materialisation  confirm  the  hypothesis  we  have 
put  forward  above,  in  regard  to  the  question  of  lucidity 
through  typtology. 

Thought,  we  say,  is  not  a  purely  abstract  phenomenon. 
All  thought,  created  by  the  mind,  has  a  real  existence, 
indestructible,  or,  at  least,  which  leaves  an  imperishable 
trace.  This  entity,  or  image  representing  thought,  is  not 
in  the  material  plan  which  we  know — that  is  to  say,  it  does 
not  generally  come  within  the  cognisance  of  our  senses. 

But  let  a  subject  be  placed  in  an  abnormal  state,  in 
which  he  possesses  special  receptivity,  by  means  of  com- 
munication different  from  that  of  his  normal  senses.  This 
is  the  phenomenon  of  thought-transference.  Let  a  subject 
possessing  a  special  faculty  be  in  an  abnormal  state  in 
which  this  faculty  can  be  freely  exercised,  and  he  is  able, 
guided  by  some  indication,  imperceptible  to  our  senses,  to 
seek  far  and  wide  and  perceive  the  mental  images  created 
by  one  or  by  several  persons.  Then  we  have  the  pheno- 
menon of  lucidity. 

Let  other  subjects  possess  a  special  faculty  which 
enables  them  to  give  to  the  image  representing  their 
thoughts  an  intensity  which  endows  it  with  new  properties, 
and  this  picture,  still  without  appearing  to  our  senses,  will 
be  capable  of  impressing  a  photographic   plate   and   of 

2g 


466  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

appearing  before  our  eyes  by  this  means.  Here  we  find 
the  explanation  of  thought  photographs. 

Let  other  subjects,  perhaps  still  more  rare,  also  possess- 
ing a  special  faculty,  be  able  to  combine  the  mental  pic- 
tures emitted  by  a  whole  group  of  people,  and,  so  to  say, 
condense  them,  after  the  manner  of  an  accumulator ;  then 
these  mental  pictures  may  be  materialised  more  and  more 
completely.  They  will,  first  of  all,  be  capable  of  coming 
within  the  sense  of  sight  of  other  persons ;  then  they  will 
be  able  to  impress  the  other  senses,  and,  eventually,  they 
will  assume  all  the  properties  of  the  material  bodies,  and 
we  shall  have  materialisations  of  phantoms  with  the  pro- 
perties which  we  have  set  forth  above. 

It  must  be  observed  that  these  peculiar  faculties  which 
we  attribute  to  the  subjects  who  give  rise  to  the  various 
phenomena  of  which  we  speak,  are  perhaps  not  different 
faculties  for  each  class  of  phenomena  ;  but  they  may  easily 
be  one  and  the  same  faculty,  in  varying  degrees.  Nothing 
up  to  now  has  enabled  us  to  decide  this  point. 

Our  hypothesis,  it  will  be  seen,  not  only  applies  to  the 
majority  of  the  psychical  phenomena  we  are  studying,  but 
it  gives  a  very  satisfactory  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  most 
simple  interpretation  of  them  that  has  been  enunciated  up 
to  the  present  time. 

There  is  a  case  of  projection  of  the  double  quoted  by 
Aksakoff.i  Emilie  Sagee,  thirty-two  years  of  age,  a  French- 
woman, fair,  and  of  a  nervous  temperament,  but  health}'- 
and  intelligent,  was,  in  1845,  a  teacher  at  a  boarding-school 
at  Nuwelike  in  Livonia.  During  the  eighteen  months  she 
was  at  this  school  the  forty-two  boarders  and  the  pro- 
fessors state  that  her  double  was  frequently  projected, 
giving  them  the  spectacle  of  two  Emilie  Sagees  simul- 
taneously visible,  and  each  as  distinctly  seen  as  the  other. 
One  day  when  she  was  giving  a  lesson  to  thirteen  of  the 
young  ladies,  among  whom  was  Mile,  de  Guldenstubbe 
(the  narrator  of  the  story),  and  while,  in  order  that  they 
might  better  understand  her  explanation,  she  was  writing 
the  passage  to  be  explained  on  the  black-board,  the  pupils 

*  A  nimism  and  Spiritism. 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS        467 

were  suddenly  startled  by  seeing  two  Emilie  Sagees,  the 
one  by  the  side  of  the  other.  They  resembled  each  other 
exactly  and  made  the  same  gestures.  Some  months 
passed  and  similar  phenomena  continually  took  place. 
There  was  seen  from  time  to  time,  at  dinner,  the  double  of 
their  teacher,  standing  behind  her  chair,  imitating  her 
movements  as  she  ate,  but  with  neither  knife  jior  fork,  nor 
eatables  in  her  hands.  However,  it  did  not  always  happen 
that  the  double  imitated  the  movements  of  the  real  per- 
son. Sometimes  when  she  rose  from  the  chair  the  double 
would  be  seen  to  remain  seated.  One  day  the  whole  of 
the  pupils  were  together  in  one  room  doing  embroidery. 
They  were  all  seated  at  the  table  and  could  easily  see  what 
was  going  on  in  the  garden  (the  room  was  on  the  ground- 
floor  with  four  large  glass  doors  opening  on  to  the  garden). 
Whilst  working  they  saw  Mile.  Sagee  engaged  in  gather- 
ing some  flowers.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  room  was 
another  mistress  who  was  in  charge  of  the  pupils  and  was 
seated  in  a  green  morocco  arm-chair.  Presently  this  lady 
left  the  room  and  the  arm-chair  was  empty. 

But  this  was  only  for  a  short  time,  for  the  young  ladies 
suddenly  perceived  in  it  the  form  of  Mile.  Sagee.  They 
immediately  looked  into  the  garden  and  saw  her  still 
occupied  in  gathering  flowers,  only  her  movements  were 
slower  and  heavier,  like  those  of  a  person  overcome  with 
sleep  or  exhausted  with  fatigue.  They  again  looked  at  the 
arm-chair  where  the  double  was  seated,  silent  and  motion- 
less, but  with  so  real  an  appearance  that  if  they  had  not 
seen  Mile.  Sagee,  they  would  have  believed  it  was  she 
herself. 

These  curious  phenomena  lasted  with  some  variations 
for  about  eighteen  months.  They  noticed  that  in  propor- 
tion as  the  double  became  clearer  and  more  consistent, 
the  person  herself  became  more  rigid  and  enfeebled  ;  and, 
conversely,  in  proportion  to  the  disappearance  of  the 
double  the  corporeal  body  regained  its  strength.  She 
herself  was  unconscious  of  what  happened,  and  only  knew 
about  it  from  what  she  was  told. 

As  the  pupils'  parents  became  uneasy  on  the  matter 


468  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

and  withdrew  their  children,  Mile.  Sagee  was  dismissed. 
She  then  said  that  she  had  been  discharged  from  eighteen 
boarding-schools  for  the  same  reason. 

She  went  to  live  with  a  relative  who  had  several 
children ;  the  latter  frequently  saw  the  projection  of  her 
double,  and  were  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  they  saw 
"  two  Aunt  Emihes." 

An  important  observation  was  made  in  the  course  of  a 
seance  with  Eusapia  Paladino  at  the  Societe  Universelle 
d'Etudes  Psychiques  in  Paris  by  Dr.  Allain,  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Society. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  seance,  at  the  moment  when  the 
most  extraordinary  and  noisy  phenomena  w^ere  taking 
place,"  writes  Dr.  Allain,  "  so  extraordinary  and  noisy 
indeed,  that  there  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  greatest  doubt 
as  to  their  genuineness,  I  put  my  left  hand  mechanically 
on  the  curtain  of  the  medium's  cabinet,  on  the  outside 
that  is  to  say,  at  the  left-hand  end  of  the  front  of  the 
cabinet.  But  what  was  my  astonishment  when  I  felt 
forming  under  my  fingers  a  sort  of  relief,  giving  a  sensa- 
tion such  as  might  be  produced  by  one  of  the  cardboard 
masks  with  which  children  play  at  carnival  time,  being 
held  against  the  curtain.  Without  losing  a  moment  I 
then  plunged  my  right  hand  into  the  opening  at  the  side 
of  the  cabinet  and  made  my  two  hands  meet,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  curtain.  I  found  that  during  five,  six,  seven, 
perhaps  ten  seconds,  though  my  loft  hand  continued  to  feel 
this  projection,  my  right  hand  could  not,  on  the  contrary, 
find  any  corresponding  cavity  on  the  inside.  And  yet  my 
two  hands  were  only  separated  by  the  curtain. 

"  Is  it  possible  to  suppose  that  at  this  moment  Eusapia, 
whether  cheating  or  not,  but  in  any  case  much  occupied 
with  the  phenomena  produced,  had  found  it  possible  to 
produce  her  famous  fluidic  image  ?  I  do  not  believe  it,  and 
believe  it  the  less  because  I  was  careful  to  state  aloud  what 
I  felt,  and  Eusapia  appeared  to  bo  absolutely  ignorant  of 
it,  because  she  made  no  allusion  to  it  either  at  the  moment 
when  the  thing  happened,  or  afterwards  in  the  numerous 
seances  which  I  had  with  her. 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS        469 

"  We  must  also  dismiss  all  idea  of  mental  suggestion 
on  my  part,  for  I  am  personally  far  from  being  scientifi- 
cally certain  of  the  possibility  of  this  suggestion,  and,  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  incident  above  related  took 
place,  my  mind  was  rather  weary  of  the  somewhat 
grotesque  occurrences  I  had  witnessed  than  desirous  of 
producing  others. 

"  Evidently  there  remains  the  possible  hypothesis  that 
I  had  been  the  victim  of  hallucination,  but  is  this  probable 
in  a  man  who  not  only  enjoys,  and  who  always  has  en- 
joyed, excellent  health,  but  who,  moreover,  as  doctor  and 
lawyer,  has  long  studied,  together  with  his  master,  Pro- 
fessor Gamier,  at  the  Infirmary,  the  different  hallucina- 
tions that  are  to  be  met  with  in  mental  pathology  ? " 

The  following  is  an  account  of  a  seance  in  which  the 
commencements  of  materialisation  were  seen  to  occur. 

At  the  end  of  1891,  the  American  Society  of  Psychical 
Research,  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  M.  Savage,  of  Boston, 
made  various  experiments,  the  most  important  of  which 
is  worthy  of  being  quoted.  The  account  of  this  seance 
was  signed  by  the  members  present.  The  Society  included 
such  men  as  Dr.  Heber  Newton,  Mr.  A.  Livermore,  and 
a  number  of  others  well  known  in  science  and  letters. 
Another  clergyman,  very  well  known  in  America,  who 
is  also  a  member  of  this  Society,  was  present  at  the 
seance.  He  declared  that  he  believed  it  impossible  and 
ridiculous  to  explain  these  facts  by  the  theories  of  fraud 
and  illusion. 

The  medium  was  Mrs.  Roberts  of  New  York.  The 
seance  was  held  in  a  hall,  usually  public,  at  Osnet,  Massa- 
chusetts. A  large  cage  of  iron  wire  resting  on  a  wooden 
framework  had  been  constructed.  This  cage  was  very 
strongly  made  by  a  competent  workman.  In  the  front  of 
the  cage  was  a  door,  which  could  be  fastened  with  a 
padlock.  This  cage  was  placed  along  the  wall  of  the 
room,  which  was  on  the  second  floor,  and  could  only  be 
entered  by  one  door.  Before  the  medium  entered  the 
cage  her  clothing  had  been  examined   by  a  lady,  who 


470  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

declared  that  it  was  of  dark  colour  (the  importance  of  this 
detail  will  be  seen).  When  the  seance  commenced  about 
sixty  people  were  present  in  the  room,  the  members  of 
the  Society  being  in  front,  and  among  the  number  were 
some  medical  men,  who  came  to  observe  the  phenomena 
under  such  novel  conditions,  Mrs.  Roberts,  a  short,  slight 
woman,  seemed  pale  and  anxious,  because  the  conditions 
Avere  altogether  unusual. 

At  eight  o'clock  Mrs.  Roberts  entered  the  cage,  and 
immediately  the  committee,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  M. 
Savage  and  a  well-known  doctor,  closed  the  door  with  the 
padlock,  and  further  tied  a  very  stout  thread  on  each  side 
and  at  the  centre  of  the  door.  This  door  was  sealed  with 
wax,  on  which  a  special  seal  was  impressed.  All  this 
was  done  to  prevent  the  medium  coming  out  of  the  cage. 
Then  the  gas  was  lowered,  and  the  seance  commenced. 
More  than  thirty  forms  came  out  of  the  cabinet  in  which 
the  medium  was,  and  materialised  in  front  of  it  in  full 
view  of  the  spectators,  the  phenomena  lasting  for  an  hour. 
The  various  forms  which  appeared  were  sometimes  tall, 
sometimes  short,  and  they  were  recognised  by  those  to 
whom  they  addressed  themselves.  The  materialisation  of 
the  various  forms  outside  the  cage  was  a  most  impressive 
sight.  At  first  a  white  nebulous  spot  appeared  on  the 
floor  in  front  of  the  cage  ;  it  grew  larger  by  degrees,  finally 
assuming  the  form  of  a  human  being  clothed  in  white. 
The  movements  of  the  hands  could  be  seen  manipulating 
this  white  vapour,  and  gradually  rendering  it  consistent. 
All  of  a  sudden  a  completely  developed  human  form 
showed  itself  to  the  spectators.  Then,  with  an  expression 
of  radiant  joy,  the  form  made  its  way  towards  one  of  the 
persons  present,  and  the  words  "  Mother "  or  "  Sister " 
were  heard  murmured  quite  softly ;  then  the  form  re- 
turned, as  though  with  regret,  towards  the  medium  and 
disappeared.  Some  forms  of  tall  and  strong  men  also 
appeared,  and  yet  the  medium  was  a  small  and  thin 
woman,  which,  in  this  case,  renders  altogether  impro- 
bable the  supposition  that  the  form  was  the  double  of 
the  medium. 


MATERIALISATIONS   OR   PHANTOMS         471 

Mrs.  Roberts  suddenly  appeared  in  front  of  the  cage, 
and  advanced  slowly  towards  the  astonished  spectators. 
The  gas  was  relit,  and  the  cage  examined  by  the  members 
of  the  committee.  The  lock  was  still  fastened,  the  threads 
and  seals  were  intact,  and  yet  the  medium,  who  had 
seated  herself  in  the  cage  before  the  committee,  was  now 
outside  it. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

MATERIALISATIONS 

Observations  of  Sir  William  Crookes 

Sir  William  Crookes  was  the  first  man  of  science  who 
dared  to  occupy  himself  publicly  with  the  study  of 
psychical  phenomena.  After  experimenting  for  a  long 
time  with  several  mediums,  he  published  a  work  in  which, 
after  having  described  his  various  experiments,  he  ventured 
to  declare  himself  convinced  of  the  reality  of  psychical 
phenomena. 

At  that  time  it  needed  great  courage  to  pay  attention 
to  phenomena,  which  only  aroused  contempt  and  derision 
on  the  part  of  orthodox  science.  We  give  here  some  ex- 
tracts from  Sir  William  Crookes'  observations  which  cannot 
be  omitted  from  a  study  of  psychical  phenomena. 

Sir  William  Crookes  experimented  for  three  years, 
from  1872  to  1874,  with  a  young  girl,  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Miss  Cook,  through  whose  mediumship  a  female  form 
materialised,  which  called  itself  Katie  King.  The  medium 
lived  in  the  house,  and  was  always  with  the  experimenter's 
family,  and  the  most  minute  precautions  were  taken 
against  possible  fraud. 

The  medium  retired  into  a  dark  cabinet,  which  was 
separated  by  a  curtain  from  the  room  in  which  the 
spectators  were  assembled.  Katie  King  soon  appeared, 
fully  materialised,  having  all  the  appearance  of  a  normal 
being.  After  a  variable  period  she  disappeared  as  she  had 
come.  She  always  seemed  to  come  out  of  the  cabinet, 
but  sometimes  disappeared  in  full  view  of  the  spectators. 

The  phenomena  lasted  for  three  years.  Katie  had  an- 
nounced at  the  commencement  the  date  of  their  cessation 

472 


MATERIALISATIONS  473 

She  was  photographed  on  many  occasions,  and  during  the 
later  manifestations  at  the  same  time  as  the  medium. 

Even  from  the  first  weeks  Sir  WilHam  Crookes  was 
able  to  see  the  medium  and  apparition  simultaneously, 
by  means  of  a  phosphorus  lamp.  On  the  invitation  of 
Katie,  he  followed  her  into  the  cabinet. 

"  I  went  cautiously  into  the  room,"  he  says,  "  it  being 
dark,  and  felt  about  for  Miss  Cook.  I  found  her  crouching 
on  the  floor.  Kneeling  down,  I  let  air  enter  the  lamp, 
and  by  its  light  I  saw  the  young  lady  dressed  in  black 
velvet,  as  she  had  been  in  the  early  part  of  the  evening, 
and  to  all  appearance  perfectly  senseless ;  she  did  not 
move  when  I  took  her  hand  and  held  the  light  quite  close 
to  her  face,  but  continued  quietly  breathing.  Raising  the 
lamp,  I  looked  around  and  saw  Katie  standing  close  behind 
Miss  Cook.  She  was  robed  in  flowing  white  drapery,  as 
we  had  seen  her  previously  during  the  seance.  Holding 
one  of  Miss  Cook's  hands  in  mine,  and  still  kneeling,  I 
passed  the  lamp  up  and  down,  so  as  to  illuminate  Katie's 
whole  figure  and  satisfy  myself  thoroughly  that  I  was 
really  looking  at  the  veritable  Katie,  whom  I  had  clasped 
in  my  arms  a  few  minutes  before,  and  not  at  the  phantasm 
of  a  disordered  brain.  She  did  not  speak,  but  moved  her 
head  and  smiled  in  recognition.  Three  separate  times  did 
I  carefully  examine  Miss  Cook  crouching  before  me,  to  be 
sure  that  the  hand  I  held  was  that  of  living  woman,  and 
three  separate  times  did  I  turn  the  lamp  to  Katie  and 
examine  her  with  steadfast  scrutiny. 

"  Later,  the  phenomena  became  more  powerful,  and  it 
was  a  common  thing  for  the  seven  or  eight  of  us  in  the 
laboratory  to  see  Miss  Cook  and  Katie  at  the  same  time, 
under  the  full  blaze  of  the  electric  light.  The  medium's 
head  was  muffled  up  in  a  shawl  to  prevent  the  light 
falling  on  her  face." 

The  medium  and  Katie  were  very  much  alike,  but 
there  were  certain  points  of  difference  which  Crookes  has 
carefully  noted. 

"Katie's  neck  was  bare  last  night;  the  skin  was  per- 
fectly smooth  both  to  touch  and  sight,  whilst  on  Miss 


474  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Cook's  neck  is  a  large  blister.  .  .  .  Katie's  ears  are 
unpicrccd,  whilst  Miss  Cook  habitually  wears  earrmgs. 
Katie's  complexion  is  very  fair,  while  that  of  Miss  Cook 
is  very  dark.  Katie's  fingers  are  much  longer  than  Miss 
Cook's,  and  her  face  is  also  larger.  In  manners  and  ways 
of  expression  there  are  also  many  decided  differences. 
Miss  Cook's  hair  is  so  dark  a  brown  as  almost  to  appear 
black;  a  lock  of  Katie's,  which  is  now  before  me,  and 
which  she  allowed  me  to  cut  from  her  luxuriant  tresses, 
having  first  traced  it  up  to  the  scalp  and  satisfied  myself 
that  it  actually  grew  there,  is  a  rich  golden  auburn. 

"  One  evening  I  timed  Katie's  pulse.  It  beat  steadily 
at  75,  whilst  Miss  Cook's  pulse  a  little  time  after  was 
going  at  its  usual  rate  of  90.  On  applying  my  ear  to 
Katie's  chest  I  heard  a  heart  beating  rhythmically  inside, 
and  pulsating  even  more  steadily  than  did  Miss  Cook's 
heart  when  she  allowed  me  to  try  a  similar  experiment 
after  the  seance.  Tested  in  the  same  way,  Katie's  lungs 
were  found  to  be  sounder  than  her  medium's,  for  at  the 
time  I  tried  my  experiment,  Miss  Cook  was  under  medical 
treatment  for  a  severe  cough." 

Certain  people  who  wish  to  be  regarded  as  strong- 
minded,  and  have  themselves  no  scientific  authority,  nor 
any  sound  argument  to  oppose  to  the  serious  evidence 
given  by  recognised  scientists,  content  themselves  with 
purely  and  simply  denying  the  statements,  without  pro- 
ducing any  evidence  in  support  of  Avhat  they  say,  and 
think,  perhaps,  that  such  common  and  misplaced  mockery 
will  serve  instead  of  argument. 

One  of  these  persons  has  thus  expressed  himself  with 
regard  to  the  experiments  carried  out  by  Sir  William 
Crookes, 

"I  have  convinced  myself  in  London,  without  the 
slightest  doubt,  as  to  the  puerile  and  gross  frauds  of  the 
famous  Florence  Cook  (now  Mrs.  Corner),  who  splendidly 
duped  the  distinguished  William  Crookes  with  the  phantom 
of  Katie  King,  who  was  no  other  than  her  own  sister." 

But  the  seances  which  Sir  William  Crookes  had  with 
Florence  Cook  took  place,  almost  exclusively,  in  his  own 


MATERIALISATIONS  475 

house,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  select  circle  of  observers 
invited  by  himself.  They  were  carried  on  under  con- 
ditions which  rendered  all  complicity  impossible,  as  may 
easily  be  seen  by  referring  to  his  work,  Researches  in  the 
Phenonnena  of  Sijiritualism.     On  page  109,  he  says: — 

"During  the  last  six  months  Miss  Cook  has  been  a 
frequent  visitor  at  my  house,  remaining  sometimes  a  week 
at  a  time.  She  brings  nothing  with  her  but  a  little  hand- 
bag, not  locked ;  during  the  day  she  is  constantly  in  the 
presence  of  Mrs.  Crookes,  myself,  or  some  other  member 
of  my  family,  and,  not  sleeping  by  herself,  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  opportunity  for  any  preparation,  even  of  a  less 
elaborate  character  than  would  be  required  for  enacting 
Katie  King.  .  .  .  She  has  always  submitted  with  the 
utmost  willingness  to  every  test  that  I  have  proposed." 

Another  fact  which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  is  that, 
as  Sir  William  Crookes  said :  "  Katie  King  is  half  a  head 
taller  than  Miss  Cook  and  looks  a  big  woman  in  comparison 
with  her  "  ;  and  this  can  be  seen  from  the  photographs  in 
which  Miss  Cook  and  Katie  were  taken  simultaneously. 

This  fact  clearly  refutes  the  pretended  discovery  of 
M.  Bois,  for  when  these  seances  Avere  held  Florence 
Cook  was  a  young  woman,  less  than  twenty  years  of  age, 
and  her  sisters  were  too  young  to  play  the  role  of  Katie, 
even  if  they  had  wished  or  had  the  opportunity  to  do  so. 
Therefore,  when  a  journalist  says  that  he  has  "  convinced 
himself"  that  Katie  King  was  none  other  than  Miss  Cook's 
sister,  we  can  only  conclude  that  he  was  wrongly  informed, 
seeing  that  the  facts,  for  the  accuracy  of  which  we  can 
vouch,  are  quite  opposed  to  his  statements. 

It  is  really  not  worth  while  to  try  to  refute  such  trivial 
arguments  as  these,  which  do  not  even  rest  on  the  slightest 
trace  of  evidence.  To  all  appearance  they  arise  from  the 
well-known  credulity  of  the  incredulous. 

Moreover,  Sir  William  Crookes  expresses  himself  as 
follows  with  reg-ard  to  Miss  Cook.  I'  think  no  one  need 
hesitate  between  the  arguments  of  a  scientist  of  such 
world-wide  reputation  as  Sir  William  Crookes  and  the 
statements  of  a  journalist. 


476  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  Every  test  that  I  have  proposed  she  has  at  once 
agreed  to  submit  to  with  the  utmost  willingness ;  she  is 
open  and  straightforward  in  speech,  and  I  have  never  seen 
anything  approaching  the  slightest  symptom  of  a  wish  to 
deceive.  Indeed,  I  do  not  believe  she  could  carry  out  a 
deception  if  she  were  to  try,  and  if  she  did  she  would 
certainly  be  found  out  very  quickly,  for  such  a  line  of 
action  is  altogether  foreign  to  her  nature.  And  to  imagine 
that  an  innocent  schoolgirl  of  fifteen  should  be  able  to 
conceive  and  then  successfully  carry  out  for  three  years 
so  gigantic  an  imposture  as  this,  and  in  that  time  should 
submit  to  any  test  which  might  be  imposed  upon  her, 
should  bear  the  strictest  scrutiny,  should  be  willing  to  be 
searched  at  any  time,  either  before  or  after  the  seance, 
and  should  meet  with  even  better  success  in  my  own 
house  than  at  that  of  her  parents,  knowing  that  she  visited 
me  with  the  express  object  of  submitting  to  strict  scientific 
tests — to  imagine,  I  say,  the  Katie  King  of  the  last  three 
years  to  be  the  result  of  imposture  does  more  violence  to 
one's  reason  and  common  sense  than  to  believe  her  to  be 
what  she  herself  affirms." 

As  to  the  precautions  taken  to  prevent  all  possible 
deception,  the  following  is  the  statement  of  the  distin- 
guished physician.  Dr.  J.  M.  Gully,  who  was  present  at  a 
large  number  of  seances,  and  who  has  dispassionately  and 
philosophically  investigated  these  extraordinary  pheno- 
mena. 

"  All  those  who  have  been  present  at  the  Crookes' 
seances  know  what  careful  precautions  were  taken  in  order 
that  the  medium's  movements  should  be  controlled. 

"These  precautions  proved  to  me  beyond  doubt  that 
the  form  that  appeared  was  not  that  of  Miss  Cook,  but 
had  an  altogether  separate  existence." 

The  following  also  is  the  statement  of  Mr.  Cromwell 
Varley,  F.R.S.,  the  well-known  electrical  engineer,  the 
originator  of  the  trans- Atlantic  cable. 

"  As  I  had  been  requested  to  investigate  some  material- 
isation phenomena,  I  agreed  to  do  so  with  Miss  Cook  at 
some  seances  which  were  held  at  Mr.  Livermore's  house. 


MATERIALISATIONS  477 

The  medium  was  treated  like  a  telegraphic  cable,  and  an 
electric  current  was  passed  from  her  right  wrist  along  her 
arms  to  her  left  wrist."  That  was  done  all  the  time, 
in  order  to  secure  exact  data.  Varley  made  use  of  a 
reflecting  galvanometer  and  various  other  instruments. 
By  this  means  the  medium  could  not  interrupt  the 
current,  even  for  a  hundredth  part  of  a  second,  without 
the  fact  becoming  immediately  known.  "Despite  all 
this,"  Mr.  Varley  says,  "  the  half-materialised  form  of 
Katie  appeared  down  to  the  waist  only,  the  remainder 
of  the  body  being  missing  or  invisible.  I  held  the  hand 
of  this  strange  being,  and  at  the  end  of  the  seance  Katie 
told  me  to  go  and  awaken  the  medium.  I  found  Miss 
Cook  entranced  (in  a  lethargic  condition),  as  I  had  left 
her,  and  all  the  platinum  wires  intact.  I  then  awakened 
Miss  Cook." 

A  similar  experiment  was  made  by  Varley  in  the 
presence  of  Sir  William  Crookes.  A  weak  electric  current 
was  maintained  throughout  the  seance.  Sir  William 
arranged  wires  in  such  a  manner  that  if  Miss  Cook  had 
moved,  even  unconsciously,  she  could  not  have  passed 
beyond  the  curtains  enclosing  the  cabinet  in  which  the 
medium  was  seated.  Despite  all  these  precautions  Katie 
came  six  or  eight  feet  in  front  of  the  curtains;  no  wire 
was  attached  to  her  arms,  and  the  electrical  test  was  quite 
conclusive. 

As  an  additional  precaution  Sir  William  Crookes  asked 
Katie  to  plunge  her  hands  into  a  chemical  solution.  But 
no  special  deflection  of  the  galvanometer  ensued.  The 
opposite  would  have  infallibly  happened  if  Katie  had  had 
the  wires  on  her,  because  the  solution  would  have  modified 
the  current. 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

STUDY   OF   THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR 

We  will  examine  in  this  chapter  the  remarkable  pheno- 
mena obtained  through  a  Russian  medium.  These  ob- 
servations have  been  published  by  M.  Petrovo-Solovovo  in 
the  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques} 

Sambor  very  willingly  submitted  to  a  rigorous  control, 
and  frequently  asked  for  it.  In  the  first  place,  it  should 
be  noted  that  his  hands  were  controlled  in  a  perfectly 
satisfactory  manner;  they  were  held — or,  at  least,  they 
always  seemed  to  be — in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  which 
was  not  the  case  with  other  mediums — Eusapia,  for  ex- 
ample.^ The  chain  of  hands  was  almost  always  formed  on 
the  knees  of  the  spectators  and  without  contact  with  the 
table. 

In  the  numerous  cases  which  it  fell  to  my  lot  to 
control,  Sambor  was  never  opposed  to  my  holding  his 
hand  in  the  most  careful  and  satisfactory  manner,  namely, 
by  grasping  with  my  five  fingers  the  palm  of  his  hand 
and  his  four  fingers.  It  happened  certainly  that  I  was 
present  at  some  seances  where  the  chain  of  hands  was 
sometimes  placed  on  the  table,  which  made  the  control 
more  satisfactory;  but  this  took  place  but  rarely,  for  a 
short  time  only,  and,  I  think,  always  at  the  request  of 
some  person  other  than  the  medium. 

'  I  shall  often  have  occasion  to  make  use  of  this  term  phenomena  in 
my  account,  and  to  avoid  all  mistake,  I  will  hear  say  that  it  ought  not  to 
be  taken  to  imply  the  authenticity  of  the  facts  described.  In  my  mind 
it  is  equivalent  to  an  expression  such  as  the  following:  "  Incidents  which 
seem  (or  even  are  reputed)  to  proceed  from  an  unknown  cause."  The 
same  reservation  applies  to  such  words  as  trance,  &c. 

"  Even  if  he  detached  his  hand  from  that  of  his  neighbour,  he  always 

did  it  in  so  distinct  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  room  for  reasonable  doubt. 

478 


STUDY   OF  THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR       479 

The  chain  once  formed,  the  hands  of  the  medium  were 
placed  sometimes  on  the  knees  of  their  neighbours,  some- 
times on  his  own.  In  the  latter  case  the  hypothesis  of  any 
action  of  his  legs  is  eliminated.  When  I  was  sitting  next 
to  Sambor,  it  most  frequently  happened  that  I  put  my 
foot  or  my  leg  against  his,  which  was  sufficient  to  neu- 
tralise any  possible  action  on  his  part.^  Further,  the 
medium  frequently  tapped  with  his  feet  during  the 
seance,  which  thus  enabled  their  position  to  be  ob- 
served. 

I  repeat  that  Sambor  Avas  the  first  to  ask  for  a  rigorous 
control.  At  KiefF,  m  some  of  the  seances,  he  was  sub- 
mitted to  some  very  extraordinary  tests.  For  my  part,  I 
confess  that  I  am  opposed  to  them. 

I  ask  for  a  strict  control  of  the  hands,  and  a  satisfactory 
control  of  the  feet,  the  elimination  of  all  manifestations 
capable  of  being  produced  by  a  movement  of  the  head  or 
by  any  instruments  whatever.  Apart  from  this,  I  regard 
ligatures  of  any  description  as  useless. 

Sambor  was  much  disposed  to  ask  for  light  during  the 
seances,  and  he  often  related  in  support  of  this  request, 
some  examples  of  striking  manifestations  obtained  under 
such  conditions.  Having  had  occasion  to  verify  some  of 
his  statements,  I  believe  the  greater  part  of  them  to  be 
accurate,  and  am  quite  ready  to  believe  that  light  does 
not  prejudice  the  phenomena  of  this  medium  in  particu- 
larly favourable  circumstances.  But  the  results  of  my 
personal  experience  are  that  there  is  very  little  opportu- 
nity of  observing  the  phenomena  in  any  light  whatever, 
even  in  a  very  feeble  one. 

I  therefore  think  that  new  observers  who  begin  to 
make  experiments  with  Sambor  ought  first  of  all  to  pro- 
ceed in  total  darkness,  and  then  allow  a  little  light  in  the 
room  if  the  results  obtained  in  the  dark  are  particularly 
striking. 

^  As  to  the  objection  which  has  been  made  to  this  by  several  who 
have  experimented  with  Eusapia,  and  consider  such  control  illusory :  I 
admit  this  when  the  medium  is  a  female ;  with  a  man  it  is  very  different, 
provided  one  pays  attention  to  his  movements. 


480  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

I  should  add,  however  : — 

(a)  That  we  have  had  some  satisfactory  experiments 
w^ith  Sambor  by  placing  him  in  front  of  a  curtain,  behind 
which  there  was  consequently  a  dark  corner,  and 

(b)  That  in  the  circle,  in  whose  seances  I  generally 
took  part  last  winter,  there  was  once  in  my  absence  (and 
with  the  addition  of  several  persons  who  had  never  before 
attended  our  seances)  an  astonishing  seance  with  the  same 
medium  in  semi-darkness. 

Sambor  is,  or  is  supposed  to  be,  in  a  trance  condition 
when  any  phenomenon  takes  place.  Some  years  ago  this 
condition  was  often  manifested  by  violent  movements  on 
his  part,  movements  so  violent  that  we  could  not  always 
hold  his  hand ;  at  other  times  he  fell  to  the  ground,  &c. 
At  the  present  time  he  remains  much  quieter. 

Only  once,  at  least  in  my  experience,  the  voice  of  "  the 
spirit "  (we  shall  speak  later  in  detail  of  this  phenomenon) 
was  heard  while  the  medium  was  not  yet  asleep.  He  mani- 
fested considerable  emotion,  which  seemed  to  be  quite 
sincere,  and  appeared  to  be  very  much  interested.  At 
the  same  seance  he  said  he  had  seen  the  face  of  a  child 
(his  control,  according  to  the  spiritistic  expression,  is 
supposed  to  bo  a  little  girl),  and  one  of  the  persons  pre- 
sent (a  sensitive,  it  appeared)  declared  that  he  had  seen 
the  same  thing. 

I  shall  give  some  details  of  the  different  classes  of 
phenomena  presented  by  Sambor  in  the  following  order : — 

(a)  Movements  of  Objects  without  Contact,  and  Touch- 

ings. 
(6)  Luminous  Apparitions. 

(c)  Raps,  Lcvitations,  Voices,  &c. 

(d)  Direct  Writing. 

(e)  Passing  of  Matter  through  Matter. 

(f)  Materialisations. 

Movements  of  Objects  without  Contcict 

This  phenomenon  took  place  at  every  seance  which  did 
not  give  absolutely  no  results.    Articles  placed  outside  the 


STUDY   OF   THE    MEDIUM    SAMBOR        481 

circle  were  carried  on  to  the  table  in  the  midst  of  the 
spectators  and  vice  versd ;  articles  which  had  fallen  to 
the  ground  were  raised  from  the  floor  and  placed  also 
on  the  table,  and  I  have  very  often  witnessed  similar 
phenomena. 

My  impartiality  makes  it  my  duty,  however,  to  add 
that  for  the  greater  part  my  personal  observations 
relating  to  this  class  of  facts  must  be  considered  as  inde- 
cisive. In  fact,  when  movements  of  this  class  are  pro- 
duced in  total  darkness,  the  control  of  the  hands  only, 
and  even  of  the  feet,  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  elimi- 
nating all  possibility  of  fraud.  We  ought  also  to  be  sure 
that  the  distance  at  the  commencement  separating  the 
medium  from  the  objects  transported  has  not  changed 
during  the  seance,  and  in  such  conditions  it  seemed  to 
me  rather  difficult  to  be  quite  certain  of  this. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that,  in  speaking  of  inaiiifesl  a- 
tions  of  this  character  with  Sambor,  I  only  dwell  upon 
those  which  presented,  so  to  speak,  an  exceptional 
character  in  some  respect. 

I  will  commence  with  the  account  of  a  seance  where 
various  movements  of  objects  were  witnessed  in  a  faint 
light  in  similar  conditions  to  those  of  the  experiments  with 
Eusapia  Paladino;  except  that  the  control  of  Sambor's 
hands  could  not  give  rise  to  any  doubt. 

The  seance  in  question  was  held  on  March  7th  (19th) 
at  the  house  of  Colonel  B.,  one  of  the  most  assiduous 
members  of  the  circle  in  the  seances  of  which  I  took 
part  last  winter.' 

There  were  present  Colonel  B.,  M.  P.,  M.  Edouard 
R.,  M.  Vsevolod  S.  (a  well-known  Russian  writer),  the 
medium,  and  myself.  I  will  not  describe  the  first  part 
of  the  seance,  which  took  place  in  almost  complete  dark- 
ness. By  dint  of  patience  we  succeeded  in  obtaining  some 
manifestations,  more   or  less   convincing.      It  was   then 

1  The  account  was  published  by  me  in  Eebus  (M.  Pribitkow,  editor)  of 
June  6th  (18th),  1S99,  from  notes  made  by  me  on  the  following  day,  or 
the  day  but  one  after  the  seance.  I  am  quoting  from  Bchus  in  giving  the 
present  account. 

2  H 


482 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


decided  to  continue  the  seance  in  semi-darkness.  A 
small  lamp  was  placed  on  the  ground  in  a  corner  of  the 
room,  and  a  large  book  was  placed  in  front  of  it  to  shield 
the  light  still  more,  though  it  was  already  turned  quite  low, 
after  which  we  arranged  ourselves  as  shown  on  the  plan. 

Some  unimportant  details  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
room  where  the  seance  took  place  are  not  reproduced  on 
this  plan. 

From  the  first  there  was  complete  or  almost  complete 
darkness  in  the  room.     The  door  leading  from  the  cabinet 


A^./?. 

^m/> 

0 

K 

O 

^  o    SraoY     1 

;3 

'      O^ 

o 

Cci^B. 

sSed/f 

Fig,  14. 


into  the  room  was  left  open ;  to  make  up  for  this  we 
lowered  the  curtains  on  both  sides  of  the  door  and  placed 
the  medium  in  the  middle. 

The  chain  of  hands  was  formed,  as  usual,  on  the  knees 
of  those  present.  The  light,  although  very  feeble,  was 
still  sutticient  for  us  to  see  the  head  and  hands  of 
Sambor. 

In  these  conditions  various  phenomena  took  place. 
First  of  all  something  white  and  very  long  was  suddenly 
projected  through  the  opening  of  the  curtain  on  to 
Colonel  B.,  my  neighbour  on  the  left,  and  myself;  it 
was  a  small  album  of  photographic  views  which  had  pre- 
viously been  in  the  room  and  had  been  opened  in  falling. 
When   this   part   of  the   seance   ended   we  saw  another 


STUDY   OF  THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR        483 

similar  small  album  on  the  floor,  half-way  between  the 
table  m  the  middle  of  the  room  and  the  curtain,  as  though 
it  had  not  had  sufficient  power  to  reach  the  medium. 

Strictly  speaking,  it  would  be  possible  to  assume  that  the 
medium  had  secretly  possessed  himself  of  this  small  album 
during  one  of  the  intervals  of  the  seance,  and  had  kept  it 
in  reserve  up  to  that  moment.  This  hypothesis  seemed 
to  me  to  be  refuted  by  another  phenomenon  which  was 
produced  at  this  same  seance.  Once,  while  looking  right 
in  front  of  me,  I  saw  an  object,  the  nature  of  which  I 
could  not  at  first  determine,  come  down  on  to  the  table 
between  the  medium  and  his  left-hand  neighbour,  M. 
Edouard  R.  This  movement  was  not  very  slow — nor  yet 
very  rapid — but  an  appreciable  although  very  short  time 
elapsed  betw^een  the  moment  when  I  first  saw  this  object, 
illuminated  by  the  rays  from  the  lamp,  and  that  at  which 
it  touched  the  top  of  the  table.  It  was  a  piece  of  wood ; 
there  was  a  small  pile  of  them  on  the  ground  quite  close 
at  hand.  This  piece  of  wood  passed  close  beside  M.  R.'s 
face,  and  he  seemed  quite  surprised.  It  is  clear  that  in 
this  case  at  least  the  medium  could  have  made  no  pre- 
parations for  the  production  of  the  phenomenon. 

One  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this  seance  was 
the  touchings  which  several  of  us  felt  through  the 
curtain.  Bringing  my  left  hand,  which  was  joined  with 
Colonel  B.'s  right  hand,  up  to  the  curtain  I  distinctly  felt 
a  contact  of  fingers.^ 

But  it  was  M.  R.  who  was  the  special  object  of  these 
touchings ;  once  it  was  evidently  attempted  to  draw  him 
on  to  the  other  side  of  the  curtain.  They  took  hold  of 
him  under  the  arms,  and  pulled  the  flaps  of  his  frock-coat — 
unfortunately  he  was  afraid  and  unwilling  to  respond  to 
this  invitation.  Colonel  B.  then  rose  and  proposed  to 
go  behind  the  curtain  in  his  place— but  the  phenomenon 
was  not  repeated. 

It  is  distinctly  noted  in  my  account  that  during  all 
the  cases  of  contact  enumerated  above,  the  medium's 
hands  were  not  only  held  but  seen. 

1  This  would  be  on  a  level  with  the  medium's  elbows. 


484  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

I  have  not  made  a  note  of  the  cases  in  which  Sambor's 
hands  were  covered  by  the  ciirtam. 

Sambor's  hands,  therefore,  were  not  implicated;  nor 
was  his  head  either,  for  we  could  see  it.  It  was  impossible 
for  me  to  determine  the  position  of  his  feet ;  and  this  per- 
haps may  be  regarded  as  a  matter  for  regret,  though  for  my 
part  it  seems  to  me  hardly  probable  that  he  could  have 
picked  up  the  piece  of  wood  with  his  feet  and  made  it 
pass  quite  close  to  M.  Edouard  R.'s  face  without  the  latter 
noticing  it.  That  corner  of  the  room  was  very  dark  at  the 
time,  and  if  I  saw  distinctly  the  piece  of  wood  when  it 
came  on  to  the  table,  it  was  only  owing  to  the  rays  from 
the  lamp  falling  on  it,  without  illuminating  the  space 
behind ;  but  I  do  not  think  this  circumstance  detracts 
much  from  the  value  of  the  incident.  In  short,  I  had 
the  impression  at  this  seance  that  at  the  very  least  the 
phenomena  of  touchings,  &c.,  were  not  due  to  the  action 
of  the  feet.^ 

I  pass  on  to  another  seance  which  was  held  in  total 
darkness,  but  was  of  such  a  character  that  it  was  quite 
evident  that  the  medium  took  no  part  in  the  phenomena. 

The  following  account  is  according  to  a  report  published 
by  me  in  Rebus  : — 

Seance  held  February  27th  (March  11th),  1899,  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  B.  at  St.  Petersburg.  I  brought  my  friend 
M.  G.,  Attache  at  the  Russian  Legation  at  X.,  as  he  had 

1  I  must  say  here  that  I  was  very  careful  in  my  article  only  to  state 
things  of  which  I  was  absolutely  certain.  It  was  quite  possible,  for 
example,  that  the  feet  of  the  medium  were  controlled  in  an  absolutely 
satisfactory  manner  (by  the  feet  of  his  neighbours)  at  the  seance  in 
question,  but  I  was  wrong  in  not  assuring  myself  of  this  by  question- 
ing MM.  R.  and  B.  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  report  as  to  the 
raising  of  the  table  described  below.  I  believe,  however,  that  at  the 
seance  of  January  11,  1899,  it  may  be  considered  very  probable  that 
at  least  one  of  the  feet  of  the  medium  was  accounted  for.  The  reader 
must  not  assume  from  what  is  here  said  that  I  am  not  in  favour  of  a 
rigorous  control ;  quite  the  contrary,  but  when  one  is  not  directing  the 
experiments  it  is  not  always  possiVile  to  insist  on  all  desirable  conditions 
without  being  thought  somewhat  importunate. 

(These  last  words  certainly  do  not  apply  to  the  medium,  who  was  the 
first  to  ask  for  a  rigorous  control,  and  I  should  be  grieved  if  any  one  should 
take  them  in  bad  part.) 


STUDY   OF  THE   MEDIUM   SAMBO R       485 

never  been  present  at  a  spiritistic  seance.     There  were 

also  present   Dr.  and  Mme.  B n,  Mile.  Geibel,  Mile. 

K n,  M.  A.  Boujinski.    At  eleven  o'clock  my  friend  and 

colleague  S n  came.     Until  he  arrived  nothing  of  any 

interest  took  place;  but  directly  M.  S n  was  there,  the 

phenomena  assumed  a  remarkable  character. 

1.  Notes  were  several  times  struck  on  a  piano,  placed 
at  the  other  end  of  the  room  (which  was  very  large)  and 
on  the  side  of  the  table  (around  which  we  were  seated) 
furthest  from  the  medium. 

2.  At  the  request  of  the  medium  when  in  a  state  of 
trance,  and  also  at  the  request  of  the  spectators,  a  glass  of 
tea  placed  on  the  same  piano  during  one  of  the  intervals 
of  the  seance  was  brought  across  the  room  to  the  medium. 
We  heard  the  spoon  clink  in  the  glass,  and  I  heard  Sambor 
drinking  from  this  glass  quite  close  to  me  (I  was  seated 
on  his  left). 

3.  I  had  the  distinct  sensation  of  some  one  making 
movements  behind  me.  I  felt  several  contacts  of  an  in- 
definite character  on  the  head ;  then  at  my  request  a 
palpably  human  hand,  with  quite  distinct  lingers,  was 
placed  on  my  face. 

4.  I  had  in  one  of  the  inside  pockets  of  my  frock-coat  my 
wallet  filled  with  papers,  and  a  piece  of  string  with  the  two 
ends  sealed,  which  I  had  prepared  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
knots  as  ZoUner  had  done ;  on  two  occasions  a  hand  (I  had 
the  very  definite  sensation  of  a  forearm)  felt  in  my  pocket 
for  these  articles  and  took  them  out.  I  afterwards  recovered 
the  wallet  and  the  string,  but,  alas !  without  a  knot. 

5.  Sambor,  still  in  trance,  asked  the  spirit  to  open  the 
door  of  the  room  a  considerable  distance  behind  him  ;  the 
door  was  slowly  half  opened  several  times  and  we  saw 
(the  room  at  the  side  being  partly  illuminated),  by  the 
gleam  of  light  which  was  formed,  the  outline  of  an  arm 
which  pushed  the  door ;  once  I  even  thought  I  saw  dis- 
tinctly the  outline  of  a  head.^ 

^  All  these  manifestations  were  produced  in  the  same  part  of  the 
stance.  I  have  not  described  the  others  which  occurred,  either  at  the 
beginning  or  the  end  of  the  stance,  and  which  were  not  so  remarkable 
in  character. 


486  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

I  declare  in  tlie  most  formal  manner,  and  the  reader 
will  be  disposed,  I  hope,  to  attach  some  value  to  this 
statement,  in  view  of  the  reserves  which  I  have  several 
times  had  occasion  to  make,  that  none  of  these  phe- 
nomena could  be  produced  by  the  hands  or  the  feet  of 
the  medium.     I  was  quite  certain  as  to  his  left  foot  and 

hand  all  the  time.    M.  S n  was  on  the  immediate  right 

of  Sambor,  and  he  did  not  express  any  doubt  as  to  his 
control  of  the  medium ;  but  that  is  not  the  essential  point, 
because  supposing  even  that  the  right  hand  or  the  right 
foot  of  Sambor  were  liberated  (a  very  improbable  hypo- 
thesis as  regards  the  hand)  that  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
cause  the  notes  of  the  piano  to  be  played,  or  to  bring  the 
glass  of  tea,  or  to  open  the  door. 

All  these  phenomena  could  only  have  been  produced 
by  a  person  walking  across  the  room  with  perfect  freedom, 
and  this  would  necessarily  require  the  complicity  of  at 
least  three  members  of  the  circle.  I  reject  this  hypothesis 
as  categorically  as  the  first.  The  only  rational  explana- 
tion would  be  to  suppose  the  complicity  of  a  person  out- 
side the  circle  and  other  than  the  medium.  But  there 
was  no  one  in  the  place  except  the  servants.  It  therefore 
could  only  have  been  the  case  that  the  medium  had  an 
understanding  with  one  of  them.  It  is,  unfortunately,  im- 
possible to  refute  such  a  proposition  absolutely.  I  will 
therefore  content  myself  by  remarking  that  it  seems  to 
me  improbable. 

I  also  had  occasion  later  to  broach  this  subject  with 

Mme.   B n.      She    answered    very   decidedly   in   the 

negative. 

I  shall  now  say  something  with  regard  to  a  phe- 
nomenon, which  I  had  the  opportunity  of  observing 
several  times  at  Sambor's  seances,  which  was  less  extra- 
ordinary in  character  than  the  seance  just  described  which 
I  might  call  unique  of  its  kind.  It  relates  to  the  raising 
of  tables,  sometimes  very  heavy,  which  were  transported 
outside  the  circle  over  the  chain  of  hands. 

I  admit  that  for  small  tables  the  thing  may  l)e  feasible,  by 
means  of  the  teeth  ;  but  when  tables  weighing  thirty-four 


STUDY   OF   THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR        487 

pounds  and  nearly  a  yard  wide  are  concerned,  this  supposi- 
tion seems  to  me  very  improbable.  But  a  table  of  this 
weight  and  size  was  transported  outside  a  circle  at  a  seance 
held  at  my  house  on  December  30,  1898  (January  11, 
1899),  a  seance  at  which  all  idea  of  collusion  was  strictly 
excluded. 

We  formed  the  chain  as  usual  around  the  table  and 
without  touching  it.  Once  during  the  seance  we  noticed 
(in  the  darkness)  that  the  table  was  raised,  and,  after  a 
little  time,  Colonel  B.,  who  was  on  the  immediate  left  of 
the  medium,  found  that  it  was  coming  outside  the  circle 
over  his  arm  which  was  joined  to  Sambor's ;  after  Avhich 
we  heard  it  placed  on  the  ground  behind  these  two  people, 
but  with  less  noise  than  a  table  of  this  size  would  have 
made  if  it  had  been  thrown ;  we  then  heard  it  moved  hi 
various  directions  and  subsequently  stop  still. .  When  the 
candle  was  lighted  we  discovered  that  this  table  was  placed 
on  the  ground,  with  its  feet  in  the  air,  and  taking  up  the 
entire  space  between  Sambor  and  Colonel  B.  and  the  wall 
of  the  room,  or,  to  be  exact,  the  stove. 

It  seemed  to  me  very  unlikely  that  this  transference 
could  have  been  effected  by  means  of  the  feet  and  head  of 
the  medium — even  admitting  that  he  had  his  feet  free  all 
the  time,  which  is  doubtful — without  striking  the  head  of 
one  of  the  spectators.  But,  except  a  slight  blow  felt  on  the 
head  of  one  of  us,  no  one  was  in  any  way  injured.  I  repeat 
that  these  transferences  of  heavy  tables  in  such  conditions 
seem  to  me  outside  the  domain  of  prestidigitation. 

I  have  witnessed  this  phenomenon  many  times,  always 
without  the  medium  leaving  his  chair.  In  some  cases 
these  transferences  have  been  executed  with  remarkable 
rapidity.  On  other  occasions  a  table,  which  went  out  of 
the  circle  between  the  medium  and  M.  A.,  re-entered  it 
by  passing  (in  the  air)  between  Sambor  and  M.  B.  At  the 
seance  of  December  10th  (22nd)  (at  my  house)  this 
phenomenon  had  this  remarkable  feature  that  it  was  pro- 
duced (in  darkness)  without  our  perceiving  it.  The  table, 
it  is  true,  was  rather  small  and  light,  and  half  of  it  had 
been  removed,  because  it  was  broken  at  the  commence- 


488  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

merit  of  the  seance  (the  remaining  half  weighed  nearly 
twelve  pounds),  but  I  ought  to  add  that  a  nickel  lamp 
was  hanging  almost  over  the  middle  of  the  circle,  and  it  is 
certainly  curious  that  this  Avas  not  touched  during  the 
movement. 

Luminous  Aiyparitions 

These  were  very  frequent  with  Sambor  some  years 
ago.  We  saw  a  luminous  spot  suddenly  rise  in  the  dark- 
ness and  shine  for  one  or  two  seconds  ;  we  then  saw  a  kind 
of  vapour  or  smoke  become  detached  from  it,  and  the 
whole  disappeared.  I  have  no  decided  opinion  as  to  this 
phenomenon,  but  have  often  asked  myself  if  it  could  not 
be  produced  by  means  of  some  substance  with  which  the 
medium  had  coated  his  hair,  which  he  often  rubbed  during 
the  seance  with  one  of  his  hands  without  breaking  the 
chain  (he  made,  however,  the  same  movement  without 
any  "  light "  appearing  as  the  result). 

Since  then  these  apparitions  have  changed  their  char- 
acter. At  present  they  are  generally  small  bluish  or 
greenish  specks,  which  suddenly  shine  out  in  the  darkness, 
describing  zigzag  paths  in  the  air,  then  disappearing.  Pro- 
vided that  the  medium's  hands — as  was  almost  always  the 
case — were  firmly  held  when  the  phenomenon  was  produced, 
I  am  inclined  to  regard  the  evidence  here  as  conclusive. 

I  think,  however,  that  I  Avas  mistaken  in  saying  just 
now  that  '  these  greenish  points "  have  a  later  origin 
than  the  luminous  apparitions  of  Sambor  of  a  different 
character.  If  my  memory  serves  me,  some  Avere  witnessed 
at  the  commencement  of  his  career.  What  I  mean  is,  that 
at  present  "  these  greenish  points  "  are,  I  think,  almost  the 
only  phenomenon  of  this  character  presented  by  Sambor. 

Several  observers  have  often  had  occasion  to  notice  an 
evident  connection  between  the  luminous  apparitions  and 
the  movement  of  objects. 

For  example,  a  luminous  point  has  been  seen  to  detach 
itself  from  the  medium  and  go  towards  a  guitar  which  Avas 
placed  on  the  table,  the  cords  of  Avhich  then  sounded. 

The  reader  Avill  iind  further  on,  in  the  account  of  the 


STUDY   OF   THE   MEDIUM    SAMI30R        489 

very  remarkable  experiment  of  Dr.  Pogorelsky,  the  mention 
of  a  luminous  star  whose  appearance  coincided  with  a  case 
of  the  "  passage  of  matter  through  matter." 

At  a  seance  at  which  I  was  present,  a  small  musical 
box  (with  handle)  began  playing  a  tune  while  flying  about 
in  the  midst  of  the  circle,  and  some  of  its  movements 
were  accompanied  b}^  those  of  a  luminous  spot  (December 
1897). 


Passages  of  Matter  through  flatter  and  Knots  like 
Zollner's 

I  come  now  to  the  most  striking  class  of  Sambor's 
phenomena,  and  that  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  most 
calculated  to  produce  conviction.  It  is  the  most  striking 
because  nothing  more  impresses  the  mind  than  facts 
which  tend  to  make  one  believe  that  the  action  of  one  of 
the  most  immutable  and  evident  laws  of  nature,  such  as 
that  of  the  impenetrability  of  matter,  can  be  temporarily 
suspended.  It  is  the  most  convincing,  because  this  par- 
ticular phenomenon  has  on  several  occasions  been  pro- 
duced through  Sambor  in  conditions  which,  if  they  do 
not  absolutely  eliminate  all  possibility  of  error,  render  it 
improbable  to  a  degree  which  almost  amounts  to  absolute 
certainty. 

This  same  phenomenon,  moreover,  presents  the  indis- 
putable advantage  that  the  experimental  observation  of  it 
is  much  less  difficult,  and  the  sources  of  error  much  less 
numerous,  than  in  other  branches  of  psychic  phenomena. 

When  it  is  a  question  of  movement  of  objects,  the 
certainty  that  these  movements  are  not  due  to  any  known 
cause,  is  only  the  result  of  a  series  of  other  certainties, 
often  difficult  to  realise.  The  control  of  the  hands  only  is 
not  sufficient.  It  must  be  made  impossible  for  the  medium 
to  obtain  the  result  wished  by  the  aid  of  his  feet  and  head, 
or  by  means  of  threads,  or  any  instrument  whatever,  and 
when  all  these  sources  of  error  are  undoubtedly  eliminated 
there  remains  the  hypothesis  of  collusion. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  I  wish  to  obtain,  for  example,  a 


490  rSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

wooden  ring  or  a  chair  passed  over  the  medium's  hand 
whilst  I  hold  his  hand  in  mine,  it  is  sufficient  for  this 
experiment  to  be  regarded  as  satisfactory  for  three  very- 
simple  conditions  to  be  observed  : — 

1.  I  must  be  certain  that  the  ring  or  the  chair 
that  is  to  be  used  in  the  experiment  is  not  a  "  trick " 
article ; 

2.  I  must  hold  the  medium's  hand  in  my  own  in  such 
a  way  that  it  cannot  escape  from  me,  even  for  a  quarter  of 
a  second ; 

3.  If  the  experiment  is  successful,  I  must  be  con- 
vinced that  there  was  no  substitution  of  the  ring  or  the 
chair. 

Apart  from  that,  the  position  of  the  medium's  feet  and 
head,  the  presence  or  absence  of  threads  or  hooks,  the 
questions  of  darkness  or  light,  do  not  play  any  part.  It 
would,  doubtless,  be  preferable  that  this  phenomenon 
should  take  place  in  a  lighted  room  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means 
a  sine  qua  non  condition,  and  it  must  be  agreed  that 
when  the  experimenter  can  confine  his  attention  to  the 
hand  only  of  the  medium,  it  is  much  more  easy  to  maintain 
an  unflagging  observation. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  necessity  for  this  observation, 
to  which  Messrs.  Podmore  and  Hodgson  assign  no  value, 
is  not  always  appreciated  in  an  experiment  of  this  char- 
acter. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  question  to  be  solved  is 
the  following  :  granted  that  the  experimenter  holds  one 
of  the  medium's  hands  firmly  in  his  own,  is  it  possible  for 
this  hand  to  become  free  and  then  to  resume  its  former 
position  without  the  experimenter  perceiving  it  ? 

Well,  I  know  nothing  that  allows  me  to  regard  such  a 
thing  as  possible.  I  fully  admit  that  when  the  hands  are 
placed  one  over  the  other  on  the  table,  one  of  them  can 
be  liberated — even,  perhaps,  if  the  sitter  next  to  the 
medium  gives  all  necessary  attention  to  the  experiment, 
and  all  the  more  so  if  his  attention  is  distracted.  But 
that  is  not  the  question.  The  majority,  if  not  all,  of  the 
experiments  of  the  "passage  of  matter  through  matter" 
have  taken  ])lace  with  Sambor  in  quite  different  conditions: 


STUDY   OF  THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR       491 

the  chain  of  hands  did  not   touch    the   table,  and   the 
medium's  hands  were  firmly  held.^ 

Some  years  ago  it  happened  very  frequently  at  the 
seances  with  Sambor  in  Petersburg,  that  when  his  hands 
were  held  a  chair  was  threaded  upon  his  arm  without  the 
medium's  hands  being  released  by  his  neighbours.  These 
phenomena  happened  in  1894  and  1896;  they  have 
almost  ceased  since  that  time,  and  now  only  occur  very 
seldom. 

Here,  for  example,  is  an  extract  from  a  report  made  by 
me  of  a  seance  which  took  place  in  the  offices  of  Rebus  on 
November  3rd  (15th),  1894. 

"  The  seance  commenced  at  a  quarter  to  nine ;  fourteen 
persons  were  present,  excluding  the  medium.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  seance  M.  Sch.  controlled  the  medium 
on  the  right  and  M.  N.  on  the  left.  After  Sambor  had 
struggled  a  good  deal  in  the  darkness,  two  cane  chairs 
(called  Thonet  chairs)  came  and  linked  themselves  over 
the  right  and  left  arms  of  the  medium's  neighbour,  which 
all  present  verified  in  the  light.  The  sitter  on  Sambor 's 
right  declared  that  he  had  held  his  hand  all  the  time. 
According  to  M.  Sch.,  after  Sambor  had  made  a  violent 
movement,  his  hand  escaped  for  a  second  from  the  hand 
of  the  controller,  but  it  was  immediately  caught  again, 
convincing  himself  that  the  chair  was  not  there,  but  he 
distinctly  felt  a  chair  near  to  his  right  arm  and  pushed  it 
back." 

On  another  occasion  (at  the  same  period)  I  was  seated 
at  the  medium's  right  hand.  The  seance  took  place  in 
darkness.  Sambor  was  struggling  terribly ;  I  fully  believe 
that  once  he  fell  on  to  the  floor  (he  has  become  much 
calmer  since).  In  spite  of  all  my  efforts  his  hand  once 
escaped  mine ;  I  caught  it  again  and  convinced  myself 
that  there  was  no  chair  on  his  arm  (at  least  I  was  so 
persuaded  at  that  moment,  which  ought  to  be  sufficient), 

^  I  may  remind  readers  that  the  criticisms  directed  against  certain 
experiments  made  with  Eusapia  were  based  on  the  real  or  supposed  cir- 
cumstance that  her  hands  were  not  held  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word 
Dr.  Hodgson  was  careful  to  state  this. 


492  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

I  did  not  again  loose  his  hand.  Colonel  M.,  who  was  on 
Sambor's  left,  did  not  loose  his  hold  at  all ;  half-an-hour 
afterwards  we  lighted  up  and  saw  two  chairs  hanging 
round  the  medium's  arm :  one  on  the  right  and  another 
on  the  left. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  another  seance  where 
the  same  phenomenon  took  place  in  a  dull  light,  it  is 
true.     (Rehivs,  No.  47,  1894.) 


Seance  held  October  30th  (November  I2th),  1894 

(At  the  commencement  of  the  report  some  phenomena 
are  described  which  are  not  of  great  interest.) 

"  The  third  part  of  the  seance  began,  and  took  place 
by  the  light  of  a  candle  placed  inside  the  stove  (the 
opening  of  which  was  not  closed).  Five  minutes  after 
the  chain  had  been  formed  the  medium  began  to  move 
and  to  rise  from  his  chair,  then  he  sat  down  and  got  up 
again.  Immediately  afterwards  the  controller  on  the  left 
of  the  medium  declared  that  a  chair  was  suspended  from 
his  arm,  and  guaranteed  that  he  had  not  ceased  holding 
the  medium's  hand  for  one  moment.  The  third  part  of 
the  seance  did  not  last  more  than  fifteen  minutes.  The 
medium  was  controlled  by  MM.  Narbout  and  Panaieff. 

"  The  fourth  part  of  the  seance,  which  lasted  nearly 
half-an-hour,  began  in  the  light,  but  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
afterwards  the  medium  declared  that  he  was  very  tired, 
and  asked  that  the  light  might  be  reduced :  in  order  to 
accede  to  his  request  we  closed  the  opening  of  the  stove 
in  which  the  candle  had  been  placed.  The  medium  was 
controlled  by  MM.  Narbout  and  Vassilieif;  the  latter, 
whose  hand  was  tied  to  that  of  the  medium,  greatly  desired 
a  chair  to  be  suspended  from  his  arm  also.  Soon  after 
the  opening  of  the  stove  had  been  closed  the  medium 
began  to  move,  to  groan  loudly,  and  to  throw  himself  this 
way  and  that,  and  five  minutes  afterwards  said,  '  Give 
me  more  light.'  We  had  hardly  opened  the  door  of  the 
stove  when  the  medium  rose  up,  while  his  controllers  did 
the  same,  and  it  was  foniid  that  Ihc  oontrollor  on  the  ritrlit 


STUDY    OF   THE    MEDIUM   SxVMBOR        493 

had  two  chairs  on  his  arm,  and  M.  VassiUeft",  who  was  on 
the  left,  and  whose  hand  was  tied  to  the  medium's,  one 
only.  This  controller  declared  that  he  had  felt  the  chair 
pass,  so  to  speak,  through  his  arm  and  rest  upon  it  until 
it  was  suspended  from  it."  ^ 

The  official  account  of  this  seance  is  signed  by  all  who 
were  present. 

I  remember  that  some  one  who  was  present  at  a 
seance  with  Sambor  told  me  of  a  similar  impression,  but 
I  am  not  quite  certam  if  it  was  M.  Vassilieff,  I  believe, 
however,  that  it  was. 

Here  is  a  similar  instance. 

At  the  seance  of  November  3rd  (15th),  1894,  which 
has  already  been  mentioned,  after  one  of  the  intervals, 
my  cousin,  M.  Ch.,  was  seated  on  the  medium's  left,  and 
M.  Vassilieff  on  his  right ;  M.  Ch.'s  hand  was  tied  to 
Sambor's.  In  these  conditions  a  chair  was  placed  around 
M.  Vassilieff's  arm,  who  maintained,  as  did  also  M.  Ch., 
that  he  had  not  released  his  hold  of  the  medium's  hand 
for  one  moment.  We  lighted  the  candle,  and  I  examined 
the  chair  myself  without  finding  anything  suspicious. 
{Rehus,  No.  47,  1894.) 

I  am  not  able  to  say  precisely,  at  this  distance  of  time, 
how  long  this  experiment  lasted,  but  I  am  under  the 
impression  that  it  did  not  last  longer  than  half-an-hour 
at  the  outside,  and  perhaps  much  less. 

Cases  of  this  sort  are,  I  repeat,  numerous,  and  I  could 
quote  others. 

Let  us  see  if  the  phenomenon  in  question  can  be 
rationally  explained. 

The  first  explanation — that  of  a  surreptitious  liberation 
of  one  of  the  medium's  hands — has  already  been  discussed 
above.  I  repeat  once  more  that,  seeing  the  perfect  way 
in  which  Sambor's  hands  are  generally  held,  it  seems  to 
me  untenable,  and  in  any  case  it  is  for  the  sceptics  to  prove 
the  contrary.- 

^  Unfortunately  I  was  not  present  at  the  seance  in  question. 
^  It  might,  with  extreme  strictness,  be  objected  that  although  Sambor 
was  never  opposed  to  my  holding  his  hand  in  the  manner  described  above. 


494  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Another  analogous  explanation  would  be  the  foUowmg : 
when  the  chair  used  in  the  experiment  is  a  cane  chair,  it 
may  be  that  the  medium  succeeds  in  slipping  through  the 
back  of  the  chair  and  making  it  rise  to  the  height  of  his 
arms:  if  then  his  left  hand,  let  us  say,  is  loosed  by  the 
control,  he  can  make  the  chair  appear  on  his  right  arm 
without  his  right  hand  being  liberated.  To  do  this  he 
would  have  to  draw  his  left  arm,  set  free  for  the  moment, 
through  the  back  of  the  chair,  and  throw  this  chair  over 
his  head  on  to  his  right  arm.  In  order  to  refute  this 
explanation  I  will  content  myself  by  observing  that  this 
also  necessitates  our  assuming  the  possibility  of  liberating 
one  hand  unobserved :  that  this  is  absolutely  excluded  in 
cases  such  as  those  which  I  have  quoted  above,  in  which 
three  chairs  were  suspended  from  the  medium's  two  arms ; 
in  which  one  of  Sambor's  hands  was  tied  to  one  of  his 
neighbour's,  the  chair  becoming  suspended  from  the 
other  arm ;  in  which  the  back  of  the  chair  was  such  that 
a  man  could  not  pass  through  it;^  in  which,  lastly,  the 
chairs  were  not  "  trick "  chairs,  previously  subjected  by 
the  medium  to  any  manipulations. 

This  explanation  cannot,  strictly  speaking,  be  con- 
sidered as  absolutely  excluded  from  the  seances  previously 
described — in  fact,  they  took  place,  as  I  have  said,  in  the 
offices  of  Rebus,  the  spiritualistic  newspaper  of  St.  Peters- 
burg; where,  at  that  time,  Sambor  was  living,  and  this 
circumstance  may,  in  the  eyes  of  some,  affect  the  value 
of  the  experiments  in  question.  It  should  be  noted  that 
the  chairs  used  formed  part  of  the  furniture  of  the  office ; 
that  Sambor  was  only  in  Petersburg  for  a  short  time,  and 
I  do  not  see  what  manipulations  he  could  have  effected 
on  these  cane  chairs. 

An  hypothesis  of  this  character  is  therefore  very  improb- 
able :  it  even  becomes  quite  valueless,  since  similar  pheno- 

it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  his  hands  were  always  thus  held.  To 
this  I  reply  that  I  could  see  the  manner  in  which  his  hands  were  held  at 
a  number  of  sdances  where  there  was  observed  what  seemed  to  be  the 
passing  of  matter  through  matter,  and  I  have  always  considered  the 
control  of  the  hands  as  good. 

*  I  have  been  present  at  one  or  two  cases  of  this  kind. 


STUDY   OF  THE    MEDIUM    SAMBOR        495 

mena  were  produced  at  seances  with  Sambor,  with  other 
objects  which  cannot  lend  themselves  to  any  suspicion. 

Thus  I  brought  to  this  same  seance  of  November  15, 
1894,  which  has  already  been  mentioned  several  times,  a 
wooden  ring  bought  by  myself  and  marked. 

Well,  this  ring  was  placed  (I  ought  to  say  it  threaded 
itself)  on  M.  Vassilieff's  arm,  when  he  was  holding  one  of 
the  medium's  hands.     {Rebus,  No.  47,  1894.) 

It  is  true  that  unfortunately  this  fact  lost,  in  my  eyes, 
a  part  of  its  value,  seeing  that  it  happened  after  I  had 
left,  but  I  should  not  have  mentioned  it  in  Rebus  at  that 
time  if  I  had  not  been  convinced,  by  questioning  some  of 
those  present,  that  it  really  took  place. 

Here,  again,  is  the  account  of  two  very  interesting 
experiments  described,  the  first  by  Dr.  Pogorelsky,  the 
other  by  Dr.  Fisher,  Vice-President  of  the  Russian  Society 
of  Experimental  Psychology. 

Dr.  Pogorelski  was  kind  enough  to  communicate  to  me 
in  the  month  of  May  1899  an  account  of  his  remarkable  ex- 
periment.   I  reproduce  it  here  with  some  abbreviations : — 

"During  the  winter  of  1895-1896,"  he  states,  "S.  F. 
Sambor  gave  some  seances  at  the  Spiritist  Club  at  St. 
Petersburg,  in  the  editorial  offices  of  Rebus  at  65,  Nevsky. 
At  one  of  these  seances  I  was  sitting  by  the  side  of  Sambor 
and  held  his  left  hand  with  my  right,  in  my  own  special 
manner — that  is  to  say,  by  passing  all  the  fingers  of  my 
hand  between  those  of  his  hand.  At  one  of  these  seances 
a  cane  chair  was  found  suspended  by  the  opening  at  the 
back  on  my  arm.  I  was  particularly  interested  in  this 
phenomenon  (the  luminous  apparitions  which  were  then 
produced  with  Sambor  already  interested  me  a  little), 
and  I  wanted  to  verify  this  experiment  in  conditions 
which  seemed,  to  me  at  least,  convincing. 

"  For  this  purpose  I  arranged  to  hold  some  seances  at 
my  residence,  40  Liteinaia ;  these  seances  taking  place  in 
my  study,  a  very  large  room,  but  not  in  the  presence  of 
professed  spiritists — quite  the  contrary.  I  invited  anti- 
spiritists  exclusively,  or  else  people  who  had  not  heard 
the   subject   mentioned.      Moreover,   I   authorised    those 


496 


PSYCHICAL    PHENOMENA 


whom  I  knew  to  bring  any  one  they  chose,  so  that  the 
company  was  half  changed  at  each  seance,  and  there  were 
always  new  faces.  The  majority  of  these  persons  were 
scarcely  known  to  me,  and  unknown  to  each  other,  except, 
of  course,  to  those  Avho  had  introduced  them. 

"  At  these  three  seances  the  number  present  varied 
from  tAvelve  or  fifteen  to  twenty-two  persons  of  both  sexes. 
There  were  doctors,  lawyers,  engineers,  mathematicians, 
officers,  public  officials,  an  author,  some  ladies,  and  some 
young  girls." 

(Dr.  Pogorelski  mentions  several  names.) 

"The  seances  were  held 
once  a  week  in  March  and 
April  1896. 

"  The  conditions  of  the  ex- 
periments were  perfect  dark- 
ness and  singing.!  I  only  had 
one  cane  chair  in  my  rooms, 
so  before  the  experiment  we 
borrowed  some  from  a  person 
we  knew,  Mme.  Elizabeth  P. 
Levtchenko. 

She  lent  us  altogether  three 
chairs :  one  for  the  medium, 
and  two  for  his  neighbours  on 
either  side.  These  chairs  were 
of  beechwood  with  plaited  seats, 
and  the  backs  formed  of  two  arches  with  two  openings. 
A  (large)  and  B  (smaller). 

Only  an  arm  could  pass  through  B ;  whereas  a  man 
could  slip  through  A  if  he  were  thin  and  very  adroit,  and 
then  not  without  great  difficulty. ^ 

During  the  second  part  of  the  seance  of  April  4th  (16th), 
1806,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  I  was  sitting  on  one  side 
of  the  medium,  the  engineer  T.  on  the  other.     Suddenly  I 


Fig.  15. 


1  Generally  we  simply  sang  at  Sambor's  seances  ;  on  other  occasions 
a  musical  box  played. 

^  It  must  be  stated  that  Sambor  is  tall  of  stature,  although  rather 
thin. 


STUDY   OF   THE   MEDIUM    SAMBOR        497 

felt  a  blow  on  my  right  arm  (close  to  the  shoulder),  and  I 
felt  a  chair  passed  on  to  my  right  arm  by  the  opening  B. 
As  I  held  Sambor's  hands  in  my  usual  way  (by  interlacing 
the  fingers)  it  Avas  impossible  for  our  hands  to  become 
separated,  even  for  a  hundredth  part  of  a  second,  without 
my  feeling  it.  Moreover,  if  that  had  happened — that  is  to 
say,  if  Sambor  had  removed  his  hand — it  would  have  been 
impossible  in  the  darkness  to  put  it  back  in  the  same 
place  without  changing  the  order  of  the  fingers,  and 
without  my  feeling  it.  Finally,  there  could  be  here  no 
question  of  the  hypothesis  of  his  slipping  through  the 
opening  A.  For — without  taking  account  of  other  con- 
siderations (how  could  he  have  freed  his  hand  from  that 
of  F.  ?) — that  would  have  served  no  purpose,  because  in 
this  case  my  arm  would  then  have  been  passed  through 
A.  and  not  through  B. 

"  We  lighted  the  candle  and  verified  this  fact.     Then 

the  usual  long  discussions  began,  and  not  only  the  medium 

was  suspected,  but  myself,  as  having  taken  part  in  a  hoax. 

"  Then  with  the  permission  of  Sambor  I  thought  of 

trying  the  following  experiment : — 

"  We  placed  Sambor  between  M.  Maxime  W.,  a  solicitor 
and  a  violent  sceptic,  whom  all  who  knew  regarded  as 
an  honest  man  and  a  gentleman,  which  is  the  reason  he 
was  chosen  as  controller.  He  was  sitting  on  Sambor's 
left,  and  Mile.  0.  on  his  right.  She  was  a  young  girl  of 
twenty  years  of  age  at  the  most,  very  healthy,  of  per- 
fect constitution,  well  built  but  slightly  nervous,  and  was 
what  is  called  a  sensitive.  She  has  self-control,  is  not 
timid  nor  superstitious,  does  not  believe  in  spiritualism, 
and  had  sat  next  to  Sambor  at  previous  seances.  She  was 
not  nervous  at  his  touchings  or  at  his  way  of  knocking 
with  his  fist  on  her  knees." 

Dr.  Pogorelsky  then  stated  that  he  tied  M.  W.'s  right 
hand  to  Sambor's  left,  by  means  of  a  linen  ribbon  about 
half  an  inch  wide  and  nearly  ten  yards  long,  by  placing 
first  of  all  the  fingers  of  one  hand  between  the  fingers  of 
the  other  and  rolling  the  ribbon  round  the  hands  and 
fingers  and  making   many  knots.      These  ligatures   not 

2  I 


498  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

only  made  it  impossible  to  separate  the  hands,  but  even 
for  the  fingers  to  move.  Seals  were  placed  on  the  ends  of 
the  ribbon. 

"  The  candle  being  extinguished,  we  awaited  the  result. 
In  order  to  make  Sambor  feel  at  ease,  I  naturally  told 
everybody  beforehand  that  the  experiment  might  not  be 
successful ;  that  this  would  not  be  a  proof  to  the  contrary 
seeing  that  seances  were  not  always  successful.  At  the 
end  of  not  more  than  ten  minutes  Sambor's  usual  dis- 
turbance commenced :  he  began  to  let  himself  slip  off  his 
chair  on  to  the  floor,  to  groan,  to  knock  with  his  fist  on 
his  knees,  to  rise  up,  &c.  This  time  there  were  few  lights, 
not  more  than  one  or  two.  Suddenly  Mile.  O.  cried  out 
that  she  felt  the  chair  on  her  left  arm. 

"  She  solemnly  declared  that  she  had  not  released 
Sambor's  right  hand  for  a  second.  But  unfortunately 
her  hand  was  not  sealed  to  Sambor's,  which  would  have 
made  the  experiment  much  more  decisive,  and  every- 
body declared  with  one  voice  that  it  was  not  convincing. 
M.  W.  and  myself  categorically  insisted  that  the  chair 
should  be  threaded  on  M.  W.'s  arm.  In  his  half-entranced 
condition  Sambor  asked  us  all  to  insist,  saying,  '  Pray  all, 
pray  that  the  chair  pass  on  to  W.'s  side.' 

"  Everybody  cried  out,  '  We  ask  it,  we  ask  it,'  and  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  I  do  not  know  if  half  a  minute 
had  elapsed  from  the  time  when  we  began  to  call  out 
'  We  ask  it,'  M.  W.,  in  a  voice  choking  with  fright,  cried 
out :  '  Gentlemen,  the  chair  is  on  my  arm,  I  feel  it ' ;  and 
Mile.  O.  declared  that  the  chair  had  disappeared  from 
her  arm. 

"  One  detail:  myself  and  several  other  persons,  but  not 
all,  saw  at  that  moment  something  like  a  luminous  flash 
that  passed  from  Mile.  0.  to  W. 

"  After  W.'s  exclamation  that  the  chair  had  been 
threaded  on  to  his  arm,  everybody  requested  that  it 
should  remain  there,  which  it  did. 

"  We  turned  up  the  light  and  everybody  crowded 
round  Sambor  and  W.,  who  were  inseparably  bound 
together.     The  chair  was  found  hanging  from  W.'s  arm 


STUDY   OF   THE   MEDIUM   SAMBOR       499 

by  the  opening  A.  The  seals  and  Hgatures  were  intact, 
and  it  was  only  with  difficulty  that  we  undid  them." 

Dr.  Pogorelsky  draws  from  this  experiment  the  con- 
clusion that  Sambor's  right  hand  not  having  been  tied  to 
Mile.  O.'s  left  hand,  the  hypothesis  of  Sambor  passing 
through  the  opening  A.  from  the  back  of  the  chair 
could  not  be  regarded  as  excluded  "  with  mathematical 
certainty  "  ;  but  that  if  we  took  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  Mile.  O.'s  fingers  were  indissolubly  united  to  Sambor's, 
at  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  the  chair  on  her  arm,  as 
well  as  during  the  transport  of  this  chair  on  to  M.  W.'s 
arm,  and  also  the  rapidity  of  this  removal,  there  could 
be  no  question  that  in  this  experiment,  we  have  a  genuine 
case  of  the  passing  of  matter  through  matter  "  a  la  Zollner." 

For  my  part,  I  accept  this  conclusion. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 

PROFESSOR  0.  RICHET'S   OBSERVATIONS  AT    THE 
VILLA  CARMEN  1 

We  shall  devote  this  chapter  to  the  study  of  the  material- 
isations which  were  produced  at  the  Villa  Carmen  in 
Algiers,  the  residence  of  General  and  Mme.  Noel. 

These  facts  have  been  much  talked  of  because  they 
were  witnessed  by  the  eminent  professor  of  physiology  at 
the  Faculty  of  Medicine  in  Paris  and  Honorary  President 
of  La  Societe  Universelle  d'fitudes  Psychiques,  M.  Charles 
Richet,  who  v^ent  to  Algiers  expressly  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  them. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  scientific  authority  possessed 
by  those  who  dare  to  express  an  opinion  in  favour  of 
certain  facts  and  declare  that  they  have  been  proved,  there 
will  be  found  men  without  any  authority  or  scientific 
standing  who  will  not  hesitate  flatly  to  deny  the  state- 
ments made  without  bringing  forward  proofs,  or  make 
puerile  objections  to  definite,  scientific,  and  documentary 
evidence  of  men  of  science  of  indisputable  authority. 

In  these  discussions  there  is  evident  prejudice  on  the' 
part  of  those  who  do  not  seek  the  truth,  but  who  desire, 
at  any  price,  to  deny  certain  facts  which  are  unpalatable 
to  their  narrow  minds. 

These  objections,  as  regards  the  observations  made  by 
M.  Richet  at  the  Villa  Carmen,  have  been  reduced  to 
nothing,  as  will  be  proved  by  the  following  investigation. 
We  will  quote  Professor  Richet's  own  words,^  in  which  he 
meets  all  these  objections. 

'  Where  modifications  have  been  deemed  advisable  in  the  English 

rendering  of  the  translation   of  original' documents   in  this  and  other 

chapters,  they  have  been  unhesitatingly  adopted. 

^  See  A  nnals  of  Psychical  Science,  April  1906. 

500 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE   VILLA    CJARMEN     501 

"  Everything  that  Dr.  Z.  announces  as  to  the  fraud  or 
frauds  at  the  Villa  Carmen  really  rests  on  the  following : — 

"  He  was  able  to  exhibit  on  the  stage  of  a  theatre  an 
individual  who,  covered  with  a  white  sheet,  played  the 
part  of  a  phantom,  exactly  as  in  Les  Cloches  de  Corneville ; 
and  the  simple-minded  public  immediately  concluded 
from  this  that  the  phenomena  of  the  Villa  Carmen  were 
fraudulent. 

"  Dr.  Z.  was  not  obliged  to  draw  very  heavily  on  his 
imagination  in  order  to  exhibit  so  cheap  a  phantom  at 
the  Universite  Populaire  of  Algiers.  He  even  wished  to 
exhibit  luminous  phenomena  by  employing  phosphorated 
oil,  but  his  chemical  knowledge  was  not  sufficient  to 
enablethim  to  prepare  it  successfully. 

"  The  whole  scene,  which  excited  the  audience  and 
took  place  in  impressive  silence,  had  this  element  of  spice 
that  the  actor  who  played  the  part  of  the  phantom  was  the 
former  coachman  of  General  Noel,  a  man  named  Areski, 
who  had  been  dismissed  by  the  General. 

"  How  the  coachman  Areski  managed  to  intervene,  we 
are  told  by  Dr.  Z.  It  was  simply  by  entering  the  seance 
room  with  us,  by  a  process  which  does  not  seem  at  all 
mysterious,  that  is  to  say,  by  examining,  along  with  us,  the 
carpet,  the  bath,  and  the  furniture ;  then,  when  attention 
was  diverted  to  another  quarter,  he  slipped  into  the  cabinet 
and  hid  behind  the  curtain. 

"Now,  I  declare  formally  and  solemnly  that  during 
the  seances — about  twenty  in  number — at  which  I  was 
present,  Areski  was  not  once  permitted  to  enter  the  seance 
room.  His  actions  had  inspired  us  with  sufficient  distrust 
of  him  to  cause  us  to  take  care  to  keep  him  completely 
away.  I  will  add  that  it  would  have  been  just  as  im- 
possible for  him  to  leave  the  cabinet  as  to  enter  it,  and 
that  of  all  imaginable  hypotheses  of  deception,  that  of 
Areski  or  any  other  person  entering  or  leaving  the  cabinet 
without  our  knowledge  is  by  far  the  most  absurd.  It  is 
even  so  impossible  that  I  have  difficulty  in  believing  that 
any  person  of  common  sense  could  be  found  capable  of 
creditinsf  it. 


502  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  This  is  mere  kitchen  or  stable  gossip  which  I  should 
have  passed  over  in  contemptuous  silence  if,  in  his  feverish 
desire  for  self-advertisement,  Dr.  Z.  had  not  revealed  to 
the  universe  this  tattle  of  a  discharged  servant. 

"  There  remain  the  two  other  confessions,  or  so-called 
confessions,  which  Dr.  Z.  has  obtained  after  an  inquiry 
probably  greatly  prolonged.  He  tells  us  first  that  a 
doctor,  whose  name  he  has  the  modesty  not  to  give,  had 
played  a  farce  on  Mme.  Noel  by  getting  some  one  to 
learn  by  heart  a  ridiculous  English  phrase,  and  to  give 
it  out  as  a  proof  of  supposed  mediumistic  power.  I 
declare  that  I  did  not  know  the  smallest  portion  of  this 
story,  that  I  have  never  mentioned  it  in  my  account,  that 
I  am  in  no  way  responsible  for  what  may  have  been  said 
by  others,  and  that,  if  it  is  true,  I  am  very  sorry  both  for 
the  doctor  who  consented  to  play  such  a  despicable  part, 
and  for  Mme.  Noel  whose  hospitality  w^as  thus  abused. 

"  As  to  the  so-called  confession  of  Mile.  Marthe  B., 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Z.,  consists  merely  in  saying  that 
there  is  a  trap-door  in  the  seance  room. 

"  (1)  Mile.  Marthe  B.  has  never  written  or  said  that 
there  was  a  trajj-door ; 

"  (2)  There  is  no  trap-door. 

"We  must,  however,  draw  one  conclusion  as  to  the 
objections  which,  after  six  months'  reflection,  reinforced 
by  extorted  confessions,  inquiries  and  counter  inquiries, 
backstairs  talk,  &c.,  have  been  raised  against  the  facts  of 
which  I  have  given  an  account.  This  consists  in  the  five 
following  assertions : — 

"  1.  An  individual  dressed  up  in  a  white  sheet  can 
amuse  himself  by  playing  the  phantom  on  the  stage. 

"  2.  This  individual  may  be  General  Noel's  coach- 
man. 

"  3.  General  Noel's  coachman  asserts  that  he  has  freely 
entered  the  seance  room  with  us,  whereas  that  statement 
is  without  foundation. 

"  4.  A  doctor  played  a  trick  on  Mme.  Noel  two  3^ears 
ago  by  teaching  eleven  words  of  English  to  an  individual 
who  does  not  know  English. 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE    VILLA   CARMEN     503 

"5.  Mile.  Marthe  B.  is  reported  to  have  said  that 
everything  was  done  by  means  of  a  trap-door,  whereas 
she  has  not  said  it,  and  there  is  no  trap-door. 

"  I  confess,  for  my  part,  that  in  treating  seriously  of 
these  phenomena,  their  strangeness  had,  in  spite  of  all 
proofs,  occasioned  some  doubts  in  my  mind,  and  I  have 
not  neglected  to  express  them  fully  and  forcibly.  But 
now,  in  view  of  the  poverty  of  the  objections  which  could 
be  brought  against  them,  many  of  these  doubts  have 
disappeared. 

"  The  existence  of  this  trap-door — concerning  which  a 
lawyer  in  Algiers  wrote  me  a  touching  letter,  which  I  shall 
publish  if  need  be — is  formally  refuted  by  the  following 
certificate : — 

"  '  Emile  Lowe,  Architect,  S.N. 
Boulevard  Laferri^re,  1. 

" '  I,  the  undersigned,  Emile  Lowe,  expert  architect  at 
Algiers,  hereby  certify  that  I  have  visited  and  examined 
the  interior  and  exterior  of  the  room  known  as  the  seance- 
room  at  the  Villa  Carmen,  Rue  Darwin,  at  Mustapha, 
belonging  to  General  Noel. 

" '  This  villa  and  its  outhouses  were  built  to  my  plans 
and  under  my  direction  in  1893  for  M.  Battistini. 

" '  The  room  in  question  occupies  the  whole  of  the 
first  and  only  floor  of  a  little  pavilion  to  the  right  of 
the  entrance  to  the  property  and  was  formerly  used  as 
a  laundry;  it  is  covered  by  a  terrace-roof  in  bricks  and 
cement  on  double  T-irons,  and  is  built  of  masonry.  The 
ground-floor  is  used  as  a  coach-house,  and  is  separated 
from  the  first-floor  by  a  floor  also  of  double  T-iron,  filled 
in  with  bricks  and  cement  nine  inches  thick. 

" '  In  these  two  floors,  which  are  visible  throughout 
their  whole  extent  between  the  four  walls,  there  exists  no 
opening  or  trap-door  whatever. 

'"The  coach-house  is  entered  from  the  Rue  Darwin 
and  from  the  platform  forming  the  entrance  to  the 
property  ;  it  is  also  lighted  by  a  ventilator  under  the 
ceiling  in  the  wall  facing  the  garden,  and  in  full  view. 


504  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

'"The  room  on  the  first-floor  is  Ughted  by  two  large 
wmdows,  one  of  which  looks  on  to  the  Rue  Darwin  and 
the  other  on  to  the  entrance  platform.  Access  to  the 
room  is  obtained  by  a  door  looking  on  to  the  garden.  In 
the  party  wall,  which  is  completely  visible  from  the  in- 
terior and  from  the  next  garden,  there  is  no  opening. 

" '  In  consequence  I  certify  that  there  does  not  exist, 
and  never  has  existed,  any  other  opening  than  those  above 
mentioned. 

"'I  have  also  ascertained  that  the  building  is  in  the 
same  state  in  which  I  built  it,  and  that  no  repairs  have 
been  executed  for  more  than  six  months. 

" '  Emile  Lowe. 

"  '  Algiers,  March  16,  1906. 

"  '  Signature  seen  and  legalised  by  me  at 
Algiers,  March  16,  1906. 
For  the  Mayor:  Adjoint  Delegate. 
(Signature  illegible).' " 

We  here  give  in  full,  by  the  kind  permission  of  Pro- 
fessor Richet,  the  account  which  he  has  published  on 
these  phenomena. 


General  and  Mme.  Noel  have,  during  the  last  year  or 
two,  published  various  notices  concerning  these  singular 
facts  in  the  Revue  scientijique  et  morale  du  spiritisms, 
edited  by  M.  Delanne.  But  I  will  make  no  allusion  what- 
ever to  these  recitals,  and  will  dwell  only  upon  those  facts 
which  I  myself  witnessed.^ 

The  persons  who  were  present  at  these  experiments 
were  General  and  Mme.  Noel,  Mme.  X.,  a  lady  whom  I 
know,  and  who  knows  General  and  Mme.  Noel,  but  who 
wishes  to  Avithhold  her  name  ;  M.  Gabriel  Delanne,  and 

*  See  Annah  of  Psychical  Science,  October  1905. 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE    VILLA   CARMEN     505 

the  three  daughters  of  M.  B.,  a  retired  military  otliccr : 
Martha  (aged  19  years),  Paulette  (aged  IG  years),  Maia 
(aged  14  years).  Marthe  was  engaged  to  be  married  to 
Maurice  Noel,  the  son  of  General  and  Mme.  Noel,  who 
died  last  year  in  the  Congo. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
phenomena  which  were  forthcoming  was  due  to  the 
influence  of  Marthe  as  medium  ;  for  the  various  persons 
I  have  mentioned  were  seated  outside  the  curtains  of  the 
cabinet  where  the  materialisations  were  produced,  whilst 
Marthe  was  always  inside  the  cabinet  behind  the  curtains. 
On  two  occasions  during  these  experiments  another  person 
was  also  seated  inside  the  cabinet  with  Marthe  :  a  person 
named  Ninon,  who  exercises  the  profession  of  chiromancer ; 
but  her  role  was  practically  nil,  for  she  was  only  twice 
present.  A  negress,  one  of  Mme.  Noel's  servants,  a  girl  of 
22,  named  Aischa,  also  took  part  sometimes  in  the  seances 
as  a  soi-disant  medium,  being  then  seated  behind  the 
curtains.  But  her  role  appears  also  to  have  been  a  very 
unimportant  one";  for  several  most  important  phenomena 
were  forthcoming  when  Marthe  was  quite  alone  in  the 
cabinet — without  either  Aischa  or  Ninon. 

The  room  in  which  these  experiments  took  place  is  a 
small  kiosk  situated  in  the  garden  of  the  Villa  Carmen. 
This  kiosk  or  pavilion  is  entirely  separated  from  any  habi- 
tation ;  it  is  composed  of  one  room  only,  and  is  built  over 
a  stable  and  coach-house.  This  room  has  two  windows 
and  one  entrance  door.  One  of  the  windows  looks  out  on 
the  street  and  is  five  yards  above  the  street.  The  other 
window  looks  out  on  a  stone  staircase  which  leads  from 
the  garden  to  the  street.  The  garden  slopes  down  abruptly 
from  the  Rue  Fontaine-Bleue  to  the  Rue  Darwin.  The 
door  looks  out  on  the  garden.  Each  of  the  two  windows 
is  blocked  up  and  covered  with  canvas  nailed  to  the  wall. 
Over  this  canvas  there  is  a  thick  tapestry  curtain  which 
is  also  nailed  to  the  wall.  The  floor  of  the  room  consists 
of  flagstones  cemented  together.  A  kind  of  linoleum  is 
nailed  on  the  floor  ;  near  the  seance  cabinet  this  linoleum 
is  covered  with  a  thin  felt  carpet. 


506 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


The  seance  cabinet  is  made  by  a  canopy  in  one  of  the 
corners  of  the  room,  which  forms  a  triangle,  the  hypoten- 
use A,  B  of  which  measures  3  yards.  The  height  of  the 
canopy  is  7  feet ;  that  of  the  room  is  9  feet  6  inches. 
There  is  therefore  a  space  of  2  feet  6  inches  between  the 
canopy  and  the  ceihng. 

The  triangle  is  closed  by  a  very  thick,  dark,  tapestry- 
curtain.  The  curtain  runs  on  a  rod  by  means  of  brass 
rings. 

In  front  of  the  curtain,  leaving  barely  sufficient  space 
to  pass  between  it  and  the  curtain,  is  a  round  table  of 


Fig.  16. 


black  wood,  around  which  we  were  seated  nearly  always  in 
the  following  order : — 

Looking  at  the  curtain,  and  beginning  from  the  spec- 
tator's right,  there  were  seated  around  the  table  succes- 
sively :  Maia,  Mme.  X.,  myself,  Paulette,  G.  Delanne, 
Mme.  Noel,  General  Noel. 

Before  every  sitting  I  examined  the  room  minutely 
and  thoroughly — the  canopy,  the  curtains,  the  chairs  (lift- 
ing them  up),  a  bath  and  an  old  trunk  which  were  in  a 
corner  of  the  room — and  I  am  able  to  certify  that  no  one 
was  hidden  in  the  room  when  the  seance  began.  More- 
over, as  the  curtains  over  the  windoAvs  were  securely 
nailed  to  the  wall,  as  there  was  no  trap  or  secret  panel  in 
the  walls,  I  am  quite  certainly  able  to  affirm  that  no  one 
could  enter  the  room  during  the  seance. 

The  seances  were  held  by  the  light  of  a  candle  placed 
in  a  red  photographic  lantern  which  stood  on  a  shelf  at  a 
height  of  6  feet  9  inches  above  the  floor. 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE   VILLA   CARMEN     507 

Finally,  I  will  note  that  the  curtain  had  an  opening, 
and  was  so  made  that  the  right  side  was  longer  than  the 
left  side.  When  the  curtain  was  fully  opened,  and  the 
eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  feeble  light,  we  were  able 
to  distinguish  the  hands  and  faces  of  the  mediums  and 
their  garments.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  rather  diffi- 
cult to  recognise  them  even  when  the  opening  was  at  its 
maximum.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  room  itself,  outside 
the  cabinet,  at  a  distance  of  one  yard  to  one  and  a  half 
yards,  the  various  sitters  could  be  easily  recognised. 

After  several  preliminary  operations,  on  which  I  will 
not  dwell,  Marthe  and  Aischa  seated  themselves  in  the 
cabinet :  Marthe  to  the  left,  Aischa  to  the  right,  and  the 
curtain  was  closed. 

The  seances  took  place  either  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  or  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  They  lasted 
from  two  to  three  hours.  At  the  close  of  each  seance  I 
examined  the  room  as  thoroughly  and  minutely  as  before 
the  seance. 


II 

All  the  experiments  conducted  at  the  Villa  Carmen 
cannot  be  described  here  in  detail ;  for  the  detailed  report 
of  these  experiments,  written  by  me  immediately  after 
each  seance,  would  be  too  lengthy  and  tedious.  It  will 
perhaps  be  sufficient  if  I  set  forth  methodically  a  few 
essential  facts,  choosing  those  which  appear  to  have  the 
greatest  significance. 

I  said  further  back  that  it  was  not  possible  to  suppose 
the  presence  of  some  individual  concealed  in  the  seance 
room,  or  of  some  one  entering  the  room  during  the  seance, 
in  order  to  explain  the  presence  of  a  new  personage 
appearing  beside  the  medium. 

I  will  establish,  first  of  all,  that  the  personage  in  ques- 
tion is  neither  an  image  reflected  in  a  mirror,  nor  a  doll, 
nor  a  lay-figure.  In  fact,  it  possesses  all  the  attributes  of 
life.  I  have  seen  it  leave  the  seance  cabinet,  walk  about, 
go  and  come.     I  have  heard  its  breathing  and  its  voice ;  I 


508  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

have  touched  its  hand  several  times :  that  hand  was  warm 
and  jointed.  I  have  been  able,  through  the  drapery  with 
which  the  hand  was  covered,  to  feel  the  wrist,  the  bones 
of  the  wrist  and  of  the  metacarpus,  which  yielded  to  the 
pressure  of  my  hand-clasp. 

Therefore,  the  only  fraud  possible — and  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  to  suppose  any  other  —  must  consist  in  the 
so-called  phantom  being  the  medium  disguised.  For 
reasons  which  I  will  give  in  detail  further  on,  I  consider 
this  hypothesis  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
admit.  But  before  entering  on  this  discussion,  I  will 
relate  in  full  the  following  experience,  which  proves 
undoubtedly  that  the  phantom — or  the  form  which  was 
before  our  eyes — possesses  some  of  the  essential  attributes 
of  life. 

On  Friday,  September  1st,  Marthe  and  Aischa  were 
seated  behind  the  curtain.  In  front  of  the  curtain  were 
the  usual  sitters :  General  Noel,  Mme.  Noel,  M.  D.,  Paulette 
B.,  myself,  Mme.  X.,  and  Maia  B.  I  had  prepared  a 
bottle  containing  some  clear  baryta  water,  and  arranged 
in  such  a  way  that  by  blowing  through  a  tube  made  of 
india-rubber  it  was  possible  to  make  the  expired  air 
bubble  in  the  baryta  water.  After  the  production  of 
several  phenomena,  the  details  of  which  I  will  not  enlarge 
upon,  Bien  Boa  (this  is  the  name  by  which  the  phantom 
calls  itself)  asked  to  be  permitted  to  try  the  experiment 
of  the  baryta.  At  the  same  time,  he  bent  forward,  outside 
the  curtain,  and  through  the  opening  he  thus  made  in 
bending  forward,  I  distinguished  clearly  Aischa  seated  far 
away  from  B.  B.  and  Marthe.  I  could  not  see  Marthe's  face 
very  well ;  but  I  recognised  the  skirt  and  chemisette  she 
was  wearing,  and  I  saw  her  hands.  M.  Delanne,  who  was 
nearer  the  cabinet  than  I  was,  affirms  he  saw  Marthe's  face. 

B.  B.  bent  forward,  as  I  said.  The  General  took  the 
tube  of  baryta  from  my  hands  and  handed  it  to  B.  B.,  who 
tried  to  blow  through  it.  During  the  whole  time  this  ex- 
periment was  going  on,  I  distinguished  clearly  the  entire 
form  of  Marthe,  who  was  seated  far  in  the  background. 
M.  Delanne  remarked  aloud  to  me  that  he  distinguished 


OBSERVATIOxNS   AT  THE    VILLA   CARMEN     509 

Marthe  completely;  and,  as  the  capital  point  of  the  ex- 
periment lay  precisely  in  a  thorough  and  complete  view 
of  Marthe,  all  my  attention  was  devoted  to  her.  At  the 
same  time  we  heard  B.  B.  trying  hard  to  blow  through  the 
tube ;  but  he  did  it  badly,  and  his  respiration,  instead  of 
passing  through  the  tube,  passed  outside  it,  consequently 
there  Avas  no  gurgling  or  bubbling  of  the  water. 

For  some  time  B.  B.  made  fruitless  efforts,  and  we 
heard  his  blowing. 

Then  the  General  explained  to  him  that  he  must  make 
the  liquid  bubble,  which  can  only  occur  when  the  expired 
air  is  made  to  pass  through  the  tube.  At  last  B.  B,  suc- 
ceeded ;  he  blew  strongly,  and  I  heard  the  bubbling,  which 
lasted  for  about  half  a  minute ;  then  he  made  a  sign  with 
his  head  that  he  was  fatigued  and  could  not  go  on  any 
longer,  and  he  passed  the  tube  of  baryta  to  me :  I  observed 
that  the  liquid  had  become  quite  white. 

I  desire  to  point  out :  (1)  That  my  eyes  did  not  leave 
the  tube,  and  that  it  left  my  hands  to  pass  into  those 
of  the  General  and  B.  B. ;  also  that  I  saw  the  tube  all 
the  time  near  the  mouth  of  B.  B.,  while  the  expired  gas 
was  bubbling  through  the  baryta  water,  and  that  imme- 
diately afterwards  there  was  carbonate  of  baryta,  as  I 
observed  by  the  sufficient  light  of  the  room,  without 
the  tube  having  left  my  sight.  (2)  That  at  various 
times  I  was  able  to  see,  behind  B.  B.,  the  form  of 
Marthe ;  her  hands  I  saw  very  clearly,  her  face  with  less 
certainty,  but  at  all  events  the  whole  outline  of  her  face, 
although  it  was  too  indistinct  to  be  able  to  recognise  the 
features. 

Following  upon  this  extraordinary  and  exciting  ex- 
periment there  occurred  an  incident  Avhich  Avas  rather 
comical;  for  comical  things  sometimes  get  strangely 
confused  with  serious  matters.  After  the  persons  present 
had  assured  themselves  that  there  was  carbonic  acid 
formed  (white  carbonate  of  baryta),  they  became  so  en- 
thusiastic that  they  broke  out  into  applause,  crying, 
"Bravo!"  Then  B.  B.,  who  had  disappeared  behind  the 
curtain,   reappeared    three   separate   times,   showing    his 


510  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

head  and  saluting,  like  an  actor  returning  to  the  stage 
in  response  to  the  applause  of  the  audience. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  while  B.  B.  was  blowing 
into  the  tube,  M.  Delanne  remarked  to  me  aloud  that  the 
form  of  Marthe  could  be  perfectly  distinguished  behind 
B.  B.,  and  he  made  this  observation  at  three  different 
times,  while  B,  B.  was  blowing. 

It  results  from  these  facts  that  the  phantom  of  B.  B. 
possesses  all  the  attributes  of  life.  It  walks,  speaks,  moves, 
and  breathes  like  a  human  being.  Its  body  is  resistant 
and  has  a  certain  muscular  strength.  It  is  neither  a  lay- 
figure  nor  a  doll,  nor  an  image  reflected  by  a  mirror ;  it  is 
like  a  living  being;  and  there  are  reasons  for  resolutely 
setting  aside  every  other  supposition  than  one  or  the  other 
of  these  two  hypotheses :  either  that  of  a  phantom  having 
the  attributes  of  life,  or  that  of  a  living  person  playing 
the  part  of  a  phantom. 

The  following  phenomenon  appeared  to  me  to  be  of 
prime  importance. 

The  experiment  was  made  under  the  same  conditions 
as  the  others,  except  that  Mme.  X.  was  not  present.  It 
was  on  Tuesday,  August  29th,  and  it  was  on  that  day  that 
the  photograph  was  taken. 

After  the  photograph  had  been  taken  the  curtain 
closed  again.  In  the  diagram  the  triangle  A,  C,  B  re- 
presents the  cabinet  in  which  Marthe  was  sitting  at  M 
and  Aischa  at  N ;  A,  B  is  the  curtain,  with  an  opening  at 
O,  by  which  the  form  of  B.  B.  comes  out  and  returns. 

Scarcely  had  B.  B.  re-entered  at  0,  when  I  saw,  with- 
out any  movement  whatever  of  the  curtain,  a  white  light 
at  X,  on  the  ground,  outside  the  curtain,  between  the 
table  and  the  curtain,  I  half  rose,  in  order  to  look  over 
the  table ;  I  saw'as  it  were  a  white  luminous  ball  floating 
over  the  ground ;  then,  rising  straight  upwards,  very 
rapidly,  as  though  issuing  from  a  trap-door,  appeared 
B.  B.  He  appeared  to  me  to  be  of  no  great  height ;  he 
was  clad  in  a  drapery,  and,  I  think,  had  something  like 
a  caftan  with  a  girdle  at  the  waist.  He  was  then  placed 
between  the   table  and   the  curtain,    being   horn,  so   to 


OBSERVATIONS   AT   THE    VILLA    CARMEN     511 

speak,  out  of  the  flooring  outside  the  curtain  (which 
had  not  stirred).  The  curtain  is  nailed  to  the  wall  all 
along  the  angle  B,  so  that  a  living  person,  in  order  to 
leave  the  cabinet  by  that  way,  would  have  no  other  means 
than  to  crawl  along  the  floor  and  pass  under  the  curtain. 
But  the  coming  out  was  sudden,  and  the  luminous  spot 
on  the  floor  preceded  the  appearance  of  B.  B.  outside  the 
curtain,  and  he  raised  himself  up  (developing  his  form 
rapidly  in  a  straight  line.)^  Then  B.  B.  tried,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  to  come  among  us,  but  he  had  a  limping,  hesitating 
gait.  I  could  not  say  whether  he  walked  or  glided.  At 
one  moment  he  reeled,  as  though  about  to  fall,  limping 
with  one  leg,  which  seemed  unable  to  support  him  (I  give 
my  own  impression).  Then  he  went  towards  the  opening 
of  the  curtains.  Then,  without,  as  far  as  I  believe,  open- 
ing the  curtains,  he  suddenly  sank  down,  disappeared  into 
the  ground,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  sound  of  clac,  clac 
was  heard,  like  the  noise  of  a  body  thrown  on  to  the 
ground.  A  very  little  time  afterwards  (two,  three,  or  four 
minutes},  at  the  very  feet  of  the  General,  in  the  opening 
of  the  curtains,  we  again  saw  the  same  white  ball  (his 
head  ?)  on  the  ground ;  it  mounted  rapidly,  quite  straight, 
rose  to  the  height  of  a  man,  then  suddenly  sank  down  to 
the  ground,  with  the  same  noise,  clac,  clac,  of  a  body 
falling  on  to  the  ground.  The  General  felt  the  shock 
of  the  limbs,  which,  in  falling,  struck  his  leg  with  some 
violence. 

It  appeared  to  me  that  this  experiment  was  decisive ; 
for  the  formation  of  a  luminous  spot  on  the  ground,  which 
then  changes  into  a  living  and  walking  being,  cannot, 
seemingly,  be  produced  by  any  trick.  To  suppose  that 
Marthe,  disguised  as  B.  B.,  could,  by  gliding  under  the 
curtain  and  then  rising  upright,  give  the  appearance  of 
a  white  spot  rising  in  a  straight  line,  seems  to  me  im- 
possible ;  all  the  more  so  as,  the  next  day,  perhaps  to 
show  me  the  difference,  B.  B.  again  appeared  in  front 
of  the  curtain,  behind  which  he  had  formed,  placing  him- 

^  These  last  words  are  not  in  my  notes.     I  add  them  in  order  to  render 
intelligible  the  notes  hastily  written  and  sometimes  obscure. 


512  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

self  on  all  fours,  as  we  say,  and  then  rising  to  his  feet. 
There  was  no  possible  analogy  between  the  two  modes  of 
procedure. 

Several  times,  for' instance  three  times  on  Thursday, 
August  24th,  I  saw  him  plunge  himself  straight  into  the 
ground.  "  He  suddenly  became  shorter,  and  under  our 
eyes  disappeared  into  the  ground;  then  raised  himself 
again  suddenly  in  a  vertical  line.  The  head,  with  the 
turban  and  the  black  moustache,  and  as  it  were  the  in- 
dication of  eyes,  grew,  and  gradually  rose,  until  it  nearly 
overtopped  the  canopy.  At  certain  moments  it  was 
obliged  to  lean  and  bend,  because  of  the  great  height 
which  it  assumed.  Then,  suddenly,  the  head  sank,  sank 
right  down  to  the  ground  and  disappeared.  B.  B.  did  this 
three  times  in  succession.  In  trying  to  compare  this 
phenomenon  to  something,  I  can  find  nothing  better  than 
the  figure  in  a  Jack-in-the-box,  which  comes  out  all  of  a 
sudden.  But  I  do  not  know  of  anything  resembling  that 
vanishing  into  the  earth  in  a  straight  line,  so  that  at  one 
moment  it  seems  as  though  only  the  head  was  above  the 
ground  and  that  there  was  no  longer  a  body." 

Important  as  this  last  experience  was,  three  times 
repeated,  it  seems  to  me  less  decisive  than  the  preceding 
experiment,  the  birth  by  means  of  a  white  spot  on  the 
ground  outside  the  curtain;  in  fact,  in  the  case  of  the 
body  sinking  in  a  straight  line  into  the  ground,  one  might 
suppose  that  by  extraordinary  efforts  of  clever  gymnastics 
some  very  skilful  person,  by  dislocating  his  joints,  could 
draw  himself  backwards  while  allowing  his  head  to  lower 
itself  in  front  until  it  touched  the  ground,  so  as  to  give 
the  impression  of  a  head  descending  in  a  straight  line  to  the 
ground.  (But  how  could  the  appearance  of  the  drapery  be 
caused  to  disappear  ?  ) 

It  would  have  been  for  me  a  matter  of  considerable 
importance  to  feel  the  hand,  or  the  body,  or  any  portion  of 
the  drapery  melt  in  my  hand.  I  ought  to  say  that  I  have 
in  vain,  at  various  times,  asked  insistently  for  this  experi- 
ence. B.  B.  indeed  promised  to  give  it  to  me,  but  I  have 
had  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  of  the  sort.     However, 


OBSERVATIONS   AT   THE    VILLA    CARMEN     513 

the  fact  of  his  thus  forming  himself  and  disappearing 
permits  the  supposition  that  this  is  not  impossible.  If 
this  is  so,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  would  be  a  decisive 
experiment  for  the  hypothesis  of  a  tactile  hallucination, 
or  even  illusion,  on  my  part  is  out  of  the  question. 

In  any  case,  there  remains  this  fact  of  considerable 
value,  namely,  that  a  living  body  was  formed,  outside  the 
curtain,  before  our  eyes,  issuing  from  and  returning  into 
the  ground. 

I  was  so  convinced  that  this  living  body  could  not 
come  from  the  curtain  that  I  at  first  supposed  the  pos- 
sibility (although  an  absurd  one)  of  there  being  a  trap- 
door. On  the  day  after  this  experiment  of  August  29th, 
I  minutely  examined  the  flagstones,  and  the  coach-house 
and  stable  immediately  under  that  part  of  the  kiosk.  The 
ceiling  of  this  stable,  a  very  high  one,  is  whitewashed,  and 
covered  with  spiders'  webs,  which  had  not  been  disturbed 
for  a  very  long  time,  when,  with  the  help  of  a  ladder,  I 
examined  the  ceiling  of  the  stable. 

Now  I  pass  over  some  other  facts,  to  which  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  return  when  I  discuss  the  reality  of  these 
phenomena,  and  come  to  the  photographs. 


Ill 

Study  of  the  Photographs  taken  at  Villa  Carmen 

These  photographs,  taken  by  the  flash-light  obtained 
from  a  mixture  of  chlorate  of  potash  and  magnesium, 
were  taken  simultaneously  by  Mme.  X.  with  a  kodak,  by 
M.  Delanne  with  a  stereoscopic  camera,  and  by  myself 
with  a  Richard  stereoscopic  verascope ;  so  that,  in  certain 
cases,  there  were  five  plates  taken  simultaneously  at  one 
single  flash  of  magnesium.  This  excludes  all  possibility 
of  photographic  fraud.  Moreover,  the  negatives  were 
developed  by  Messrs.  R.  and  M.,  optical  instrument  makers 

2  K 


514  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

at  Algiers,  who  were  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  nature  of 
the  negatives  which  I  submitted  to  them.^ 

On  Fig.  17  (kodak)  and  Fig.  18  (Richard  stereoscopic 
verascope)  there  is  seen  a  large  form  enveloped  in  white 
drapery,  floating  in  the  opening  of  the  curtain.  To  the  left 
there  is  clearly  defined  the  back  of  the  chair  on  which 
Aischa  is  seated,  with  Aischa's  left  shoulder  in  a  good  light. 
The  smallest  details  can  be  distinguished  of  the  design  of 
the  cotton  check  in  which  she  is  dressed.  The  photo- 
graph of  the  phantom  taken  with  the  kodak  is  much 
clearer  than  that  of  the  one  taken  with  the  verascope.  It 
can  be  seen  that  this  drapery  is  of  a  stuff  sufficiently  fine 
and  transparent  to  allow  of  the  appearance  through  it,  in 
a  vertical  black  line,  of  the  dark  curtain.  Behind  this  fine 
drapery  appear  the  forms  of  the  elbow,  arm,  and  hand  ;  a 
very  long  hand,  scarcely  formed,  of  which  the  extremities 
of  the  fingers,  as  though  they  were  not  covered  with 
drapery,  seem  to  lose  themselves  in  a  sort  of  m^ist  of  white 
vapour  with  indeterminate  outlines.  Above,  the  whole  of 
the  face  is  not  seen,  but  only  the  lower  part  of  it ;  a  head 
leaning  forward,  of  which  only  the  very  short  chin  is  seen, 
hidden  by  a  thick  black  beard  which  covers  the  whole  of 
the  mouth,  and  above  which  only  the  end  of  the  nose  can 
be  distinguished ;  unfortunately  the  photograph  stops 
there,  and  is  cut  transversely  by  a  streak  Avhich  does  not 
allow  the  eyes  to  be  seen  at  all,  and  crossing  the  face  at  the 
lower  extremity  of  the  nose.  The  neck  is  bare,  with  a  short 
black  ribbon  (?)  and  various  indistinct  ornaments  which  are 
beneath  the  white  drapery.  Below  the  phantom,  and  to 
its  left,  there  can  be  distinguished  a  sleeve  which  appears 
more  or  less  empty,  and  something  like  the  form  of  a 
bodice.  The  white  brilliance  of  the  phantom  illuminated 
by  the  magnesium  is  so  strong  that  the  table  of  black 
wood  is  illuminated  by  it,  and  its  reflection  is  seen  as  in  a 
polished  surface.     The  opening  of  the  curtain  is  also,  to  a 

*  At  the  moment  of  writing  this  article  I  do  not  know  to  what  extent 
all  the  details  which  I  give  may  be  visible  in  the  annexed  plates.  All  that 
I  can  say  is  that  they  appear  very  clearly  on  the  photographs  which  I  have 
before  my  eyes,  and  which  I  shall  be  happy  to  show  to  those  who  may 
desire  to  see  them. 


Fig.  17. 


Fig.  18. 


Fig.  19. 


OBSERVATIONS   AT   THE    VILLA   CARMEN     515 

certain  distance,  illuminated  by  it.     The  curtain  is,  how- 
ever, slightly  pushed  back  and  thrown  over  to  the  left. 

The  stereoscopic  picture  (Fig.  18)  adds  certain  interest- 
ing details;  everything  is  confirmed,  notably  the  cloudy, 
indistinct  form  of  the  left  hand  of  the  phantom  enveloped 
in  the  drapery.  The  clouds  which  terminate  the  hand  are 
in  front  of  the  curtain.  The  difference  in  precision  will 
also  be  noted  between  the  white  drapery,  the  contours  of 
which  cannot  be  distinguished,  and  the  clear  outlines  of 
Aischa's  shoulder.  B.  B.'s  face  is  very  deeply  sunk  into  the 
drapery,  which  seems  to  form  in  front  of  it,  as  though  to 
protect  it,  a  long  tunnel,  at  the  bottom  of  which  the  face 
is,  as  it  were,  hidden.  Between  the  face  and  the  drapery 
there  are  ornaments,  bands,  stuffs,  of  which  the  nature 
cannot  be  distinguished,  but  which  truly  seem  very  com- 
plicated. At  the  bottom,  to  the  left,  a  small  angular  pro- 
jection reveals  the  sleeve  of  Marthe,  who  is  seen  to  be 
placed  much  further  in  the  background.  That  only  the 
end  of  the  sleeve  is  seen,  is  because  the  angle  at  which 
I  took  the  verascopic  photograph  was  not  the  same  as 
that  at  which  the  Kodak  photograph  was  taken.  What  is 
remarkable  in  this  photograph  is  the  extreme  thinness  of 
the  drapery,  contrasting  with  the  comparative  thickness 
of  B.  B.'s  veil  in  the  other  photographs. 

Fig.  19  is  verascopic  only.  It  was  taken  on  Tuesday, 
August  29th,  when  Mme.  X.,  who  took  the  kodak  photo- 
graphs, was  absent.  Various  interesting  things  can  be 
distinguished.  First  of  all,  Aischa  appears  very  clearly 
photographed.  We  see  her  black  face,  her  features,  her 
skin  with  its  metallic  lustre ;  her  head  is  turned  back- 
wards, and  she  is  looking  towards  B.  B.,  her  eyes  turned 
to  the  right  without  moving  her  head.  The  whole  of 
the  canopy  is  seen,  for  unfortunately  the  photograph  was 
taken  a  little  too  high  up.  At  any  rate,  every  one  can 
thus  see  for  himself  the  conditions  under  which  the  ex- 
periment took  place. 

As  regards  B.  B.,  he  is  clearly  seen  at  the  right  side  of 
the  curtain.  He  has  his  head  covered  by  a  sort  of  helmet 
with  some  metallic  ornamentation,  and  over  this  helmet  a 


516  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

turban,  and  falling  over  the  ears  a  sort  of  chin-piece,  which 
is  only  clearly  seen  to  the  right,  and  which  covers  the  right 
cheek  and  ear,  and  seems  to  be  applied  to  the  cheek  under 
the  helmet.  From  the  turban  the  drapery  descends,  float- 
ing and  forming  a  sort  of  pendentive.  The  left  arm,  of 
which  nothing  can  be  distinguished,  is  enveloped  in  a  thick 
drapery  extending  towards  Marthe  and  completely  hiding 
her.  In  fact,  B.  B.  had  informed  us  that,  as  Marthe  feared 
the  magnesium  light,  he  would  take  care  to  hide  her  eyes 
and  face  during  the  taking  of  the  photograph.  The  drapery 
which  covers  the  body  falls  straight  down,  but  is  caught 
up,  as  it  were,  in  small  bunches  at  the  upper  part.  Below 
these  bunches,  clothing  the  neck,  and  forming  a  sort  of 
cape,  is  a  series  of  singular  ornaments,  the  nature  of  which 
is  difficult  to  determine. 

-  The  face  itself  of  B.  B.  is  rather  indistinct — faint, 
when  compared  with  the  clear,  accentuated  face  of 
Aischa.  The  nose  is  long ;  the  eyes  are  open,  as  it  seems, 
and  a  very  thick  black  moustache,  which  appears  as 
though  glued  on  to  the  upper  lip,  forms  the  base  of  the 
face.     This  moustache,  as  it  falls,  conceals  the  chin. 

It  will  be  noticed,  also,  that  the  outlines  of  the  drapery 
are  faint,  cloudy,  vapoury,  and  that  this  undecided  form 
contrasts  curiously  with  the  precise  and  hard  limits  of  the 
outline  of  the  handkerchief  which  we  had  put  round 
Aischa's  head  in  order  to  recognise  her  easily  in  the  dark- 
ness, as  also  it  contrasts  with  the  clear  outlines  of  the 
curtain — so  clear  indeed  that  at  one  point  we  can  see  a 
black  thread  which  stands  out  from  the  frayed  curtain. 

I  will  also  call  attention  to  the  strange  shape  of  the 
drapery,  which  is  as  though  hanging  from  the  left  hand 
of  B.  B.  It  is  like  a  sort  of  white  cloud  descending  from 
the  hand  and  covering  the  head  and  body  of  Marthe.  In 
fact,  thanks  to  the  relief  given  by  the  double  plate,  we  can 
clearly  see  the  white  pendentive  which  descends  from  the 
turban  placed  in  front  of  the  arm.  The  arm  stands  out 
clearly  from  the  body,  and  at  the  place  where  the  hand 
would  be  there  is  a  thick  drapery  which  falls  down. 
Nothing  is  less  like  an  ordinary  garment  than  this  vest- 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE    VILLA   CARMEN    517 

ment,  which  is  composed  of  three  portions — a  white  robe 
with  bunches  at  the  top  falUng  straiglit  down  over  the 
body,  a  turban  put  on  over  a  hehnet  with  a  pendentive 
quite  detached  from  the  robe  and  issuing  from  the  turban, 
and  finally  this  mass  of  white  draperies  covering  the  wrist 
and  hand  of  B.  B.  (which  are  not  seen),  and  masking, 
as  it  falls  in  the  form  of  a  thick  veil,  the  place  where 
Marthe  is,  or,  rather,  ought  to  be. 

Another  observation  ought  to  be  made,  namely,  that 
there  is  in  front  and  above,  over  the  right  portion  of  the 
curtain,  and  much  in  advance  of  the  curtain,  as  indicated- 
by  the  stereoscopic  relief,  a  white  luminous  spot,  a  sort 
of  white  twig  with  an  efflorescent  offshoot.  This  is  not 
a  photographic  error,  for  it  occurs  on  both  plates.  It 
is  possible  that  this  spot  is  due  to  a  portion  of  the  mag 
nesium  being  projected  in  front  of  the  objective  at  the' 
time  of  the  explosion.  But  I  do  not  think  so,  for  there 
was  nothing  of  the  kind  to  our  knowledge.  In  previous 
photographs  which  Mme.  Noel  showed  me,  I  have  seen 
these  jiuidic  spots  (effluvia  ?)  between  the  two  mediums 
■with  an  identical  appearance.  It  is,  however,  possible 
that  these  effluvia  may  have  affected  the  plate  before 
the  magnesium  flash,  for  I  took  care  to  leave  the  camera 
open  for  some  time  before  the  flash ;  the  red  light  was  not 
sufficient  to  affect  the  plate,  even  after  a  long  exposure. 

Figs.  20,  21,  and  22  are  certainly  the  best  (except  Fig. 
21,  kodak,  which  was  taken  after  Fig.  20,  and  when  the 
apparatus  was  not  properly  readjusted). 

In  Fig.  20  we  see  a  little  of  Aischa  (the  right  side) 
and  the  arm-chair  in  which  she  is  sitting,  also  her  robe. 
Then,  at  her  side,  Marthe  is  seen,  seated ;  neither  her  face 
nor  her  hands  can  be  distinguished,  but  her  skirt,  chemi- 
sette, and  waist-belt  are  seen,  also  the  left  arm  stretched 
out  towards  Aischa.  B.  B.  is  at  the  side  of  the  curtain, 
and  standing  up. 

The  face  of  B.  B.  is  clearer  than  in  Fig.  19.  The 
nose  is  shorter.  There  is  not  only  a  moustache,  but 
perhaps  also  a  beard.  The  helmet  is  very  large.  It  has 
metallic  reflections,  so  that  it  is  apparently  of  metal.     (It 


518  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  previous  experiments — 
those  at  least  at  which  I  was  present — B.  B.  had  only 
a  turban.)  The  helmet  comes  doAvn  almost  to  the  eyes, 
to  the  level  of  the  eyebrows,  which  it  overlaps,  and  it 
is  so  high  that  its  height  exceeds,  by  about  one-third, 
the  distance  from  the  eyebrows  to  the  chin.  This  great 
height  'of  the  helmet,  surmounted  by  a  rounded  protuber- 
ance at  the  upper  part,  like  certain  old  mediaeval  helmets, 
is  better  seen  in  Fig.  21  than  in  Fig.  20.  The  ears  are 
completely  hidden  and  invisible.  The  drapery  covers  the 
helmet,  and  thence  falls  over  the  shoulders  and  in  front 
of  the  breast.  This  drapery  is  behind  the  curtain,  the 
fringes  of  which  are  outlined  upon  it.  Below  the  head 
is  the  chin-piece,  which  seems  to  have  fallen  down,  and 
hangs  in  front  of  the  breast ;  and  there  are  perhaps  also 
some  indistinct  ornaments  below  the  neck.  The  drapery 
at  the  upper  part  to  the  left  of  the  head  has  fringes  which 
stand  out.  These  fringes  are  much  better  seen  in  the 
stereoscopic  view,  Fig.  22,  in  which  also  we  clearly  dis- 
tinguish the  metallic  appearance  of  the  helmet,  which 
projects  boldly  in  front  of  the  eyes.  But  what  appears 
to  be  fully  evident  in  this  stereoscopic  view  is  the 
arrangement  of  the  perspective :  in  the  foreground  the 
fringe  of  the  curtain;  a  little  behind  this  the  head  of 
B.  B.,  and  the  drapery  which  covers  his  turban  and  falls 
straight  from  his  head ;  then,  in  the  background,  Marthe, 
separated  very  evidently  from  B.  B.  by  a  tolerably  Avide 
empty  space.  The  drapery  does  not  fall  down  to  the 
ground,  it  stops  short,  becoming  thinner  (like  a  shawl 
covering  a  person's  shoulders),  and  below,  between  the 
curtain  and  Marthe's  black  skirt,  there  are  seen  two  things 
like  straight  sticks,  serving  as  supports  to  this  strange 
personage.  The  drapery  is  white,  and  appears  to  be  of 
another  tissue,  much  denser  than  that  of  Fig.  17. 

In  Fig.  22  there  can  be  seen  a  singular  appearance  of 
the  drapery  at  the  point  where  it  covers  the  head  of 
Marthe.  There  it  is  altogether  misty,  and  is  in  the 
background,  as  also  is  Marthe's  head,  so  that  the  appear- 
ance is  that  of  a  sort  of  luminous,  misty  column  issuing 


Fig.  20. 


ViLi.  21. 


Fig.  22. 


i 


OBSERVATIONS   AT  THE   VILLA   CARMEN     519 

from  Marthe's  head,  and  masking  it,  so  as  to  form  a 
drapery,  which  ascends  and  loses  itself  at  the  left  side 
of  B.  B.  As  for  the  curtain,  it  seems  to  bulge  out  a  very 
little,  being  pushed  forward  by  B.  B.'s  back. 

I  have  little  to  say  as  to  the  other  personages  in 
Fig.  22.  Aischa  is  at  her  usual  place,  her  black  lustrous 
skin  shows  up  well,  likewise  the  handkerchief  knotted  on 
her  head.  Her  jet-black  hands  are  seen  crossed ;  it  can 
also  be  observed  that  she  is  looking  towards  B.  B.  Around 
the  table  are  seen,  near  the  curtain,  General  Noel  in 
profile,  then  Mme.  Noel,  who  is  shading  her  eyes  in 
order  not  to  be  blinded  by  the  magnesium  light,  then 
M.  Delanne,  who  is  taking  a  photograph. 

With  regard  to  Marthe,  whose  presence  it  is  so  im- 
portant to  confirm,  neither  her  head  nor  feet  are  seen ; 
only  her  clothes  are  shown,  but  they  are  easily  dis- 
tinguished ;  the  left  arm  is  towards  Aischa.  It  looks 
as  though  Marthe  had  taken  Aischa  by  the  neck,  passing 
her  hand  behind  Aischa's  neck.  One  would  be  tempted 
to  believe  at  first  that  it  is  the  thin  hand  of  Marthe  which 
is  in  front  of  Aischa's  neck ;  but  this  would  be  a  mistake, 
for  what  is  to  be  seen  on  Aischa's  neck  is  a  coloured  hand- 
kerchief which  she  wore  tied  round  her  neck ;  Marthe's 
hand  is  not  visible.  The  sleeve,  however,  appears  to  he 
evipty ;  it  has  strange  bends,  as  though,  being  empty,  it 
had  been  fastened  by  a  pin  to  Aischa's  chair.  And  yet, 
on  looking  more  closely,  we  find  that  the  sleeve  is  not 
entirely  empty.  Apart  from  this,  the  rest  of  Marthe's 
body,  under  the  clothing  that  covers  it,  is  perfectly  normal. 
The  robe  is  full ;  one  can  make  out  that  there  are  knees  in 
front,  and  that  there  is  a  waist  under  the  belt,  which  is 
very  clearly  seen.  The  chemisette,  with  guipure  in  the 
form  of  a  collar,  is  evidently  not  very  ample,  but  Marthe 
is  so  very  slender  that  this  is  not  surprising,  and  we  know 
the  fashion  of  chemisettes  with  pendentives  coming  down 
in  front  of  the  breast.  Above  the  belt  there  is  also  seen 
a  small  black  border,  which  is  the  upper  part  of  the 
skirt.  There  remains,  however,  this  singular  circumstance, 
that  Marthe's  right  arm  is  not  seen  at  all. 


520  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

Lastly,  if  Ave  compare  Figs.  17,  19,  and  20  with  each 
other,  we  see  that  the  height  of  B.  B.  is  very  different 
in  Fig.  17  on  the  one  hand,  and  in  Figs.  19  and  20  on  the 
other.  In  Fig.  17  he  is  much  taller,  as  is  easy  to  see  b)'^ 
taking  as  a  point  of  comparison  the  top  of  the  chair  on 
which  Aischa  is  sitting. 

IV 

Discussions  and  Conclusions 

In  the  first  place,  I  shall  present  no  theory,  and  shall 
not  even  attempt  to  theorise  concerning  these  strange 
phenomena.  It  is  a  heavy  enough  task  even  to  analyse 
their  reality. 

It  is  therefore  solely  a  question  of  deciding  whether  or 
not  there  was  any  deception.^ 

If  we  had  to  judge  by  reasons  of  a  psychological  order, 
and  not  by  reasons  of  a  material  order,  there  could  be 
no  question  of  deception.  The  integrity,  irreproachable 
and  unquestionable,  of  Marthe  B.,  the  fiancee  of  Maurice 
Noel,  the  General's  son,  could  never  be  called  in  question. 

Moreover,  before  the  mediumistic  faculties  of  Marthe 
had  been  discovered,  there  had  already  been  phenomena 
of  materialisation  at  the  Villa  Carmen,  due  to  two  other 
mediums,  and  the  form  of  B.  B.  had  manifested  also  with 
these  mediums. 

Lastly,  as  the  materialisations  took  place  in  the  cabinet 
with  Ninon  or  Aischa  generally  at  the  side  of  Marthe,  we 
should  also  have  to  assume  the  complicity  of  Marthe,  Ninon, 
and  Aischa,  who  look  upon  one  another,  it  seems  to  me, 
if  not  with  suspicion,  at  least  with  no  very  great  goodwill. 

To  suppose  that  Marthe,  the  daughter  of  an  officer, 
and  the  fiancee  of  the  General's  son,  should  concert  with 
a  negress  and  a  palmist  to  practise  an  odious  deception 

>  Do  I  need  to  apologise  to  General  and  Mme.  Noel,  and  to  Mile. 
Marthe  B.,  for  discnssing  with  perfect  freedom  their  good  faith  and  their 
sagacity  ?  'J'hey  all  three  know  how  great  is  my  respect  for  theru,  and  my 
profound  gratitude.  But  the  duty  of  the  Bcientist  in  such  a  case  is  not 
tiie  same  as  that  of  the  friend. 


OBSERVATIONS   AT   THE    VILLA   CARMEN     521 

on  General  and  Mme.  Noel  for  six  months,  is  absurd. 
For  it  could  not  be  a  matter  of  unconscious  fraud.  It 
would  need,  to  bring  in  this  heliact,  these  draperies,  this 
turban,  this  false  moustache,  a  whole  apparatus  of  great 
complexity,  which  Marthe  could  not  conceal  from  her  two 
sisters  in  the  small  villa  in  which  they  live,  and  the 
deliberate  and  prolonged  complicity  of  Paulette  and  Ma'ia 
would  have  to  be  added  to  that  of  Ninon  and  Aischa. 
Such  a  conspiracy,  so  skilfully  carried  on,  would  be  im- 
possible ;  and  the  loyalty,  purity,  and  simplicity  of  mind 
of  Marthe  could  not  be  simulated  with  such  astuteness 
that  the  most  incredulous  are  constrained  to  believe  in 
them. 

But  it  is  not  upon  such  ground  that  we  shall  discuss  the 
matter.  We  shall  suppose,  on  the  contrary — although 
it  is  the  reverse  of  good  sense  and  truth  and  probability — 
that  Marthe  may  be  cheating,  that  she  is  a  skilful  con- 
jurer, agile  and  resourceful.  We  have  to  find  out  whether 
this  suppleness  and  agility  could  throw  us  off  the  scent. 

The  reason  why  I  dwell  so  much  on  Marthe's  person- 
ality is  because  all  deception  proceeding  from  other  per- 
sons should  be  set  aside  :  (1)  There  are  no  trap-doors  in 
the  room ;  (2)  the  room  is  searched  carefully  every  time, 
and  no  person  could  remain  hidden  in  it  unknown  to  us ; 
(3)  no  person  could  enter  it  without  our  knowledge  ;  (4) 
the  persons  in  the  room,  and  whom  we  can  see  and  hear 
during  the  whole  time  of  the  experiments,  could  not  inter- 
vene directly  for  the  mechanical  production  of  the  pheno- 
mena, which  take  place  behind  the  curtain  and  at  a 
distance  from  them ;  (5)  Aischa,  who  can,  moreover,  be 
seen  very  distinctly  in  almost  all  the  experiments,  does  not 
come  into  question,  for  she  is  always  some  distance  away 
from  the  form  of  B.  B. ;  and  besides,  in  several  experiments, 
B.  B.  showed  himself  without  Aischa  being  in  the  cabinet, 
or  even  in  the  room. 

In  fact,  I  repeat,  every  other  hypothesis  of  fraud  must 
be  resolutely  set  aside  which  is  not  that  of  deception, 
most  artfully  managed,  on  the  part  of  Marthe  B. 

Even  this  deception  could  only  consist  in  disguising 


522  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

herself  as  B.  B. ;  bringing  in  under  her  dress  a  helmet 
and  various  draperies,  a  false  beard,  and  complicated 
ornaments,  and  disrobing,  in  the  little  cabinet  in  which 
she  was  seated  beside  Aischa,  in  order  to  put  on  the 
drapery  she  had  hidden,  and  put  upon  the  chair  on  which 
she  sat  a  sort  of  mannikin  or  lay-figure,  with  gloves  and 
apparatus  for  simulating  her  body,  her  knees,  her  arms, 
her  face ;  and  finally,  taking  all  these  objects  again,  the 
drapery,  and  the  lay-figure,  and  hiding  them  afresh 
under  her  dress — all  this  in  the  presence,  and  by  the 
side  of,  Aischa. 

Now,  this  hiding  away  of  a  quantity  of  apparatus  is 
manifestly  impossible ;  for,  as  we  all  of  us  observed, 
Marthe's  bodice  was  only  a  very  thin  muslin  chemisette. 
She  is  frail,  with  small  arms,  and  a  very  slender  waist. 
After  the  seance  this  chemisette  is  soaked  with  perspira- 
tion. Moreover,  it  fastens  behind  with  hooks,  diflicult  to 
undo,  and  equally  so  to  fasten  again.  It  is  therefore  not 
in  her  bodice  that  she  can  hide  all  these  draperies  and 
other  paraphernalia  which  appear  with  B.  B.  Is  it  in 
her  dress  ?  But  she  wears  very  short  dresses,  very  cling- 
ing, which  completely  outline  her  form.  She  goes  and 
comes,  runs,  mounts  staircases  quickly,  both  before  and 
after  the  seance.  The  voluminous  draperies  which  sur- 
round B.  B.  could  not  be  hidden  by  her  under  that  thin 
tunic. 

Even  if  she  could  succeed  in  this,  still  nothing  would 
be  explained.  For  besides  the  draperies  she  would  also 
have  to  hide  the  lay-figure  on  which  to  arrange  her  own 
clothes,  so  as  to  give  the  appearance  of  a  Marthe  seated 
on  a  chair,  an  appearance  so  striking  that  it  is  only  from 
excess  of  scrupulousness  that  I  do  not  say  I  distinctly 
recognised  her  in  the  person  seated  beside  Aischa,  behind 
B.  B.,  who  is  seen  moving.  In  fact,  I  repeat  again,  B.  B. 
is  like  a  living  being ;  he  is  neither  a  lay-figure  nor  a  doll ; 
and,  if  he  is  not  a  phantom,  it  could  only  be  Marthe. 

But  still,  in  defiance  of  the  evidence,  let  us  assume  this 
also.  Let  us  suppose  that  Marthe,  whom  we  have  never 
searched,  nor  bound,  could  bring  in  on  her  person  all  the 


OBSERVATIONS   AT   THE    VILLA    CARMEN     523 

apparatus  necessary  to  serve  for  her  disguise,  is  it  possible 
that  she  could  have  made  use  of  them  ? 
Now,  I  answer  boldly,  No. 

(1)  In  certain  cases  the  drapery  appeared,  shook,  and 
moved,  almost  at  the  same  time  that  Mme.  Noel  was  in 
the  cabinet.  On  August  31st,  scarcely  half  a  minute  after 
Mme.  Noel  had  left  the  cabinet,  we  saw  appearing  in  the 
opening  of  the  curtains  the  helmet  of  B.  B.,  and  some 
floating  drapery.  On  August  29tli  I  distinguished  very 
clearly,  beyond  possibility  of  dispute,  Marthe  and  Aischa 
seated  side  by  side.  Then  the  curtain  was  drawn  sharply, 
and  I  saw  a  large  white  drapery,  as  though  enveloping 
an  arm,  placed  very  high  up,  which  drew  the  curtain  and 
disappeared  with  the  speed  of  lightning. 

(2)  It  is  not  sufficient  to  cause  the  drapery  to  appear ; 
it  must  also  be  made  to  disappear.  Now  most  frequently 
other  persons — for  instance,  Mme.  X.,  sometimes  also 
Mme.  Noel — entered  the  cabinet  unexpectedly,  and  never 
noticed  anything  of  a  suspicious  nature.  The  draperies 
and  B.  B.  disappeared  as  rapidly  as  they  had  come. 

(3)  It  appears  to  me  to  be  absolutely  impossible  to 
produce  the  phenomenon  of  the  luminous  spot,  arising 
out  of  the  ground  and  giving  birth  to  a  living  being. 
No  agility,  not  even  that  of  a  professed  gymnast,  could 
produce  this  impression,  which  struck  me  as  a  categorical 
proof. 

(4)  In  the  photographs  there  are  clearly  seen  three 
personages  when  Aischa  and  Marthe  were  alone  in  the 
cabinet.  It  is  impossible  to  pretend  that  Marthe  had  dis- 
guised herself  as  B.  B.,  leaving  a  lay-figure  in  her  place, 
and  put  on,  while  quite  nude,  the  draperies  and  the 
helmet.  For  then  where  would  her  legs  and  body  be  ? 
The  head  is  erect  and  the  bust  vertical. 

(5)  Certain  details  of  the  photographs  are  character- 
istic :  the  great  height  of  the.  form  in  Fig.  17 ;  the 
faintness  and  cloudiness  of  outline ;  the  large  hand  and 
the  drapery  scarcely  materialised  of  Fig.  17 ;  the  cloud 
covering  the  face  of  Marthe  in  Figs.  20  and  21 ;  the 
different  aspect  of  the  draperies  in  the  different  photo- 


524  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

graphs ;  sometimes  a  turban,  with  pendentives,  sometimes 
fringes,  &c. 

Such  are  the  extremely  powerful  reasons  which  mili- 
tate in  favour  of  the  reality  of  these  phenomena.  But 
I  do  not  conceal  from  myself  the  force  of  some  objec- 
tions ;  it  would  be  childish  not  to  bring  them  forward 
in  all  their  force.  Why  does  the  body  and  sleeve  of 
Marthe  in  Fig.  20  seem  empty  ?  Why  do  we  not  see 
Marthe's  right  hand  ?  Why,  in  all  these  photographs, 
do  we  never  see  Marthe's  face  clearly,  as  clearly  as  we 
see  the  face  of  Aischa,  for  instance  ?  Why  is  dark- 
ness necessary  at  that  point  ?  Why  is  the  face  of  B.  B. 
so  similar  to  the  face  that  Marthe  might  have,  if  she 
had  stuck  a  coarse  black  moustache  on  to  her  upper  lip  ? 
Why,  after  having  promised  that  his  hand  should  melt 
away  in  mine,  was  I  never  able  to  obtain  anything  of  the 
sort,  when  I  declared  that  this  experience  would  be  for  me 
the  experi')ne7itu7n  crucis,  the  fundamental  one  ?  Why 
was  I  not  permitted  to  touch  and  hold  B.  B.  when  he  was 
walking  about,  around  us,  in  the  room  ? 

These  are  certainly  very  serious  objections,  but  it  is 
allowable  to  suppose  that  the  phenomenon,  so  mysterious, 
almost  miraculous,  which  we  call  materialisation,  is 
accompanied  by  a  sort  of  disaggregation  (?)  of  the  pre- 
existing matter,  so  that  the  new  matter  formed  is  formed 
at  the  expense  of  the  old,  and  that  the  medium  e'mpties 
herself,  so  to  speak,  in  order  to  constitute  the  new  being 
which  emanates  from  her,  and  which  cannot  be  touched 
without  harm  to  the  medium. 

If  Marthe  were  really  a  clever  conjurer,  if  she  were 
mistress  of  such  prodigious  cunning,  she  would  certainly 
have  understood  that  the  empty  sleeve  nailed  to  Aischa's 
chair  would  give  the  impression  of  an  empty  sleeve.  All 
the  more  so  as  nothing  would  have  been  easier  than  to 
conceal  this  sleeve,  like  the  rest  of  her  body,  behind  the 
drapery,  I  am  not  afraid  of  saying  that  the  emptiness  of 
this  sleeve,  far  from  demonstrating  the  presence  of  fraud, 
establishes,  on  the  contrary,  that  there  was  no  fraud ;  also 
it  seems  to  speak  in  favour  of  a  sort  of  material  dis- 


OBSERVATIONS    AT  THE    VILLA   CARMEN     525 

aggregation  of  the  medium  which  she  herself  was  incapable 
of  suspecting. 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  go  any  further  into  theory  at 
present.  I  do  not  even  wish  to  hazard  an  affirmation  of 
the  phenomenon. 

In  spite  of  all  the  proofs  which  I  have  given,  in 
spite  of  all  that  I  have  seen  and  touched,  in  spite  of  the 
photographs,  conclusive  as  they  are,  I  cannot  make  up  my 
mind  to  admit  this  fact  of  materialisation ;  it  is  too  much 
to  ask  of  a  physiologist  to  expect  him  to  accept,  even  after 
much  experimentation,  a  fact  so  extraordinary  and  im- 
probable, and  I  shall  not  yield  so  easily,  even  to  evidence. 

However,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  mention  these 
facts,  in  the  same  way  as  Sir  William  Crookes  thought 
it  his  duty,  in  more  difficult  times,  to  report  the  history 
of  Katie  King.  After  all,  it  may  be  that  I  have  been 
deceived.  But  the  explanation  of  such  an  error  would 
be  of  considerable  importance.  And  then — need  I  say 
it  ? — I  do  not  believe  that  I  have  been  deceived.  I  am 
convinced  that  I  have  been  present  at  realities,  not  at 
deceptions. 

Certainly  I  cannot  say  in  what  materialisation  consists ; 
I  am  only  ready  to  maintain  that  there  is  something  pro- 
foundly mysterious  in  it,  which  will  change  from  top  to 
bottom  our  ideas  on  nature  and  on  life. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

EXPERIMENTS  MADE  WITH  EUSAPIA  PALADINO  AT 
GENOA  BY  PROFESSOR  MORSELLI 

We  shall  in  this  chapter  consider  the  very  complete  study 
made  on  the  phenomena  produced  through  Eusapia  Pala- 
drno  at  Genoa  by  Professor  Morselli.^ 

Eusapia  Paladino  is  mainly  a  physical  medium ;  and  if 
students  of  psychical  matters  have  preferred  to  go  to  her, 
it  is  because  she  has  consented  to  hold  sittings  under  the 
control  of  men  of  science,  and  has  accepted,  up  to  certain 
limits  imposed  by  the  form  of  her  mediumship,  unusual 
conditions  of  experiment ;  she  has  also  submitted  to 
examination  which  no  medium  had  ever  previously  per- 
mitted. In  this  respect  Eusapia's  attitude  is  worthy  of 
praise,  and  her  position  as  a  medium  ought  to  be  regarded 
with  less  distrust. 

Intellectual  mediumship,  which  takes  place  through 
subjective  psychological  processes  in  the  medium,  is  not 
susceptible  of  scientific  investigation  except  by  con- 
summate psychologists ;  and  of  these  there  are,  in  truth, 
not  too  many,  and  moreover  psychology,  although  dabbled 
in  by  fashionable  dilettantism,  is  not  a  study  within  the 
reach  of  all.  Physical  mediumship,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  manifested  in  objective,  tangible,  visible  facts,  which 
can  therefore  be  perceived  by  the  senses  of  the  sitters, 
and  ascertained  and,  up  to  a  certain  point,  measured  by 
mechanical  means  and  apparatus.  Physical  mediumship, 
therefore,  comes  within  the  scope  of  experimental  research, 
under  which  name  we  include  also  the  simple  observation 
of  phenomena  as  they  occur  naturally  and  spontaneously, 
and  the  analysis  of  their  causes. 

*  Annals  of  Psychical  Scieiice,  vol.  v.  p.  327. 
526 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT   GENOA         527 

There  can  no  longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of 
Eusapia's  phenomena.  They  have  now  been  seen  by  too 
many  persons  under  excellent  conditions  of  verification, 
with  the  full  certainty  that  the  medium  had  not  her 
hands  and  feet  free,  and  that  many  of  the  phenomena 
occurred  at  a  distance  which  excluded  all  possibility  of 
deception ;  and  there  are  now  too  many  trustworthy  men, 
accustomed  to  observe  and  experiment,  who  say  that  they 
have  become  convinced  that  Eusapia's  mediumship  is 
genuine. 

We  have  now  got  far  beyond  the  time  when  her 
phenomena  could  be  explained  by  the  exchange  of  hands 
and  feet  in  the  dark;  the  method  of  inquiry  into  her 
phenomena  is  very  different,  and  so  is  her  attitude  in  the 
sittings,  especially  when  she  is  watched  by  persons  not 
bound  by  preconceptions  and  by  fear  of  trickery,  and  in 
whom  she  has  confidence.  In  fact,  none  of  the  most 
celebrated  mediums  are  accredited  by  so  many  explicit 
declarations  by  scientific  men  of  the  foremost  rank;  no 
one,  from  Home  and  F.  Cook  onward,  has  allowed  the 
introduction  into  the  sittings  of  scientific  instruments  and 
methods  with  so  much  tolerance  as  Paladino. 

The  general  public,  on  reading  the  accounts  of  the 
sittings,  cannot  always  form  a  precise  and  complete  con- 
ception of  the  conditions  under  which  the  phenomena  are 
witnessed.  Each  phenomenon  would  require  such  minute 
particulars  as  to  every  element  of  fact,  as  to  the  position 
and  gestures  of  the  medium,  the  chain  formed  by  the 
observers,  the  psychic  state  of  each  of  them,  the  control 
for  verification,  the  development,  duration,  and  intensity 
of  the  manifestations,  the  preparations  and  consecutive 
circumstances,  &c.,  that  the  description  Avould  become 
perfectly  unreadable,  and  impossible  to  grasp  as  a  com- 
plete mental  picture.  Luigi  Barzini  has  done  admirably, 
but  not  all  of  Eusapia's  sittings  can  hope  to  have  such 
an  able  and  readable  chronicler. 

It  follows  that  the  public  distrusts  the  accounts,  or  is 
not  convinced  by  them ;  and  many  sceptics,  every  time 
that   phenomena   are   related,   recommence    their    usual 


528  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMKNA 

eternal  questionings,  dictated  by  doubt.  Everything  is 
an  occasion  for  incredulity  to  those  who  obstinately 
remain,  or  pose  as,  sceptics :  the  control  of  the  hands, 
the  position  of  the  feet,  the  attitude  of  the  head,  the 
distance  of  the  object,  the  attention  of  the  two  watchers 
to  right  and  left,  the  convulsions  of  the  medium,  the 
emotions  of  the  spectators,  the  degree  of  light.  This  last 
point  especially  arrests  the  doubters ;  we  feel  them  always 
turning  to  the  question  of  darkness,  as  though  the  seances 
were  always  held  in  the  dark,  and  as  though  students, 
especially  after  long  practice,  were  incapable  of  making 
use  of  their  senses  and  of  their  perceptive  centres,  simply 
because  there  was  no  light ! 

It  is  useless  to  reply  exhaustively  to  such  objectors; 
they  return  to  the  charge  and  repeat  their  remarks  as 
though  they  had  made  new  discoveries,  and  as  though 
they  alone,  the  incredulous  who  have  not  seen,  possessed 
the  key  of  the  secret. 

Many  say :  "  I  will  believe  when  I  see  it,"  and  this  is 
all  well  and  good ;  meanwhile  they  believe,  without  veri- 
fication, that  Nansen  reached  86°  4'  north  latitude,  but 
not  that  I  have  been  present  at  a  real  levitation  of  a 
table  or  at  a  visible  or  tangible  materialisation  of  a  hand. 
They  are  within  their  rights,  but  Eusapia  cannot  be  at 
every  one's  service,  and  her  mediumistic  phenomena  can- 
not serve  as  a  theatrical  show. 

Some  put  forward  a  condition  for  their  belief;  they 
appeal  to  the  criterion  of  authority,  and  say  that  they 
will  believe  when  such  and  such  a  man  of  science,  "  that 
man,  who  is  above  all  suspicion,"  shall  have  made  certain 
of  the  matter.  Well,  while  I  was  and  declared  myself  a 
sceptic  in  regard  to  spiritism  and  psychism,  people  did 
me  the  honour  to  point  me  out  as  a  judge  to  whom  appeal 
might  be  made,  and  this  was  said  and  printed  in  1892. 
When,  however,  I  admitted  that  I  had  seen  and  touched 
the  reality  of  mediumistic  facts  at  the  Minerva  Club,  I 
lost  my  position  with  doubters  as  an  "  authority  above 
suspicion,"  and  in  1902  a  brilliant  journalist,  engaged  in 
a  superficial  anti-spiritistic  campaign,  dethroned  me  from 


EXPERIMENTS   MA13E   AT   GENOA         529 

this  position,  though  not  much  to  my  regret,  and  invoked 
the  superior  authority,  &c.,  &c.,  of  Professor  Blaserna  of 
Rome. 

I  am  convinced  that  Blaserna,  if  he  had  been  present, 
as  I  was,  at  about  thirty  sittings  with  Eusapia  (not  at  one 
or  two  only,  which  are  not  enough  for  a  serious  judgment), 
would  have  seen,  touched,  and  perceived  with  his  senses 
that  Avhich  I  have  seen,  touched,  and  perceived  with 
mine,  and  that  even  he,  the  distinguished  secretary  of  the 
Accademia  dei  Lincei,  would  end  by  losing  the  confidence 
of  the  obstinate  deniers. 

Neither  I  nor  Blaserna,  nor  any  one  else,  can  change 
the  substance  of  facts,  when  hundreds  of  persons  endowed 
with  senses  and  brains,  not  different  from  our  own  in 
morphology  and  function,  assert  and  confirm  each  other 
in  the  assertion  that  they  have  not  been  the  victims  either 
of  deceptions  or  of  illusions.  It  is  time  that  there  was 
an  end  of  this  negationist  attitude  a  outrance,  of  this 
habit  of  constantly  casting  the  shadow  of  doubt  and 
directing  the  smile  of  sarcasm,  I  will  not  say  upon  the 
moral  respectability  (for  in  science  all  are  subject  to 
caution),  but  upon  the  common  sense  of  the  observers 
who  make  assertions. 

Eusapia,  like  other  individuals  endowed  with  her  meta- 
psychical  powers,  would  certainly  have  taken  another  em- 
pirical direction,  if,  as  was  the  case  with  Stainton  Moses  and 
Mme.  d'Esperance,  she  had  been  left  to  herself  (I  ought 
to  say,  however,  that  she  is  completely  lacking  in  initiative). 
But  she  was  discovered  and  developed  between  1872  and 
1882  by  Signer  Damiani,  an  ardent  spiritist,  who,  on  his 
return  from  England,  where  he  had  learned  the  American 
technique  of  spiritism,  introduced  it  into  Naples  and  ren- 
dered it  automatic  in  Eusapia.  M.  Chiaia,  who  succeeded 
Damiani,  simply  followed  in  the  same  track. 

It  is  true  that,  given  the  nature  of  the  experiments, 
there  is  nothing  much  better  to  be  done ;  but,  at  all 
events,  it  might  be  said  that  the  spiritists  fear  to  detach 
themselves  from  their  antiquated  and  crude  parapher- 
nalia.    Eusapia  is  therefore  automatically  bound  to  this 

2l 


530  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

"  technique,"  and  cannot  free  herself  from  it ;  but  this  is 
not  to  be  charged  entirely  against  her.  It  is  the  whole 
history  of  spiritism  that  is  summed  up  in  her,  and  she  is 
not  to  blame. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  seems  to  be  some  reason  for 
the  habitual  technique  of  spiritism.  Take,  for  example, 
the  darkness  or  the  feeble  light  or  the  red  light.  It  is 
not  "  psychic  "  phenomena  alone  which  require  this  condi- 
tion ;  is  it  not  also  demanded  for  the  impression  of  images 
on  a  photographic  plate  ?  Have  not  certain  chemical  com- 
binations in  the  laboratory  to  be  made  in  the  dark  ?  And 
does  not  the  night  bring  about  changes  in  the  functions 
of  organisms,  animal  as  well  as  vegetable  ?  It  is  no 
wonder,  therefore,  to  a  man  of  science  who  knows  these 
facts,  if  the  mediumistic,  or  metapsychic,  or  bio-dynamic 
force  (the  name  is  of  no  importance)  is  inhibited  or  neutra- 
lised by  light,  especially  for  the  production  of  the  important 
phenomena  of  materialisation. 

Even  as  seen  in  the  light  of  historical  analogy  we  may 
find  justification  for  the  rigid  character  of  spiritistic  phe- 
nomena ;  the  table,  the  dark  cabinet,  &c.,  are  like  the 
earthen  pot  of  Papias,  Avith  regard  to  our  modern  locomo- 
tive, or  as  the  rude  electrostatic  machine  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago  in  comparison  with  our  present  stupendous 
dynamos ! 

Some  make  the  objection  (and  I  was  once  one  of  them) 
that  mediums,  beginning  with  Eusapia,  should  be  sub- 
jected to  more  scientific  vigilance,  by  surrounding  them 
with  recording  apparatus  to  register  every  movement,  to 
measure  their  efforts,  to  take  away  every  doubt  as  to  fraud. 

I  must  promise  that  the  traditional  technique  of  the 
sittings  being  accepted  as  necessary,  the  "  control "  en- 
trusted to  two  attentive  observers,  one  on  each  side, 
appears  to  be  sufficient ;  the  spiritists  maintain  this,  and 
Eusapia  requires  it.  Barzini  and  I  did  not  find  it  difficult 
to  hold  and  watch  the  lady's  hands  and  feet ;  after  a  little 
practice  wo  learned  to  hold  these  extremities  without 
allowing  them  to  escape,  and  at  the  same  time  to  watch 
her  head  (which  was  always  visible)  and  to  be  attentive  to 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT   GENOA         531 

the  phenomena.  It  is  not  every  one  who  succeeds  in  this 
multiple  work,  muscular,  mental,  and  tactile,  but  I  am 
certain  that  every  time  that  the  control  devolved  on  me, 
Eusapia  has  never,  except  for  one  or  two  naive  attempts, 
carried  out  the  supposed  trick  of  substitution  of  hands  (by 
which,  moreover,  not  one-twentieth  part  of  her  phenomena 
could  be  explained) ;  nor  could  she,  as  some  have  absurdly 
supposed,  caress  my  forehead,  pull  my  moustache,  or 
sound  trumpets  with  her  feet. 

Moreover,  the  "  control "  adopted  at  spiritistic  seances 
is  somewhat  ridiculous ;  it  tires  those  who  carry  it  out, 
and  certainly  hinders  Eusapia  from  giving  new  and 
spontaneous  manifestations  of  her  mediumship,  which 
might  be  very  fine.  I  should  like  to  have  the  more  re- 
markable phenomena  of  materialisation  with  the  medium 
at  liberty ;  I  have  had  them,  and  very  surprising  ones, 
with  Eusapia  fixed  and  bound,  but  who  knows  what  energy 
she  might  be  able  to  externalise  if  she  were  left  to  the 
automatism  of  her  sub-consciousness  ? 

It  is  true  that  every  modification  of  the  habitual  tech- 
nique is  a  check  on  deceit,  but  it  is  also  an  impediment 
and  sometimes  a  complete  hindrance  to  mediumistic  phe- 
nomena. Those  who  demand  scientific  "  control "  do  not 
consider  that  mediumship,  whatever  be  its  origin  and 
nature,  is  not  a  mechanical  function  like  that  of  a  physical 
apparatus;  it  is  based  on  psychism,  and  it  cannot  be 
claimed  that  the  actions  of  consciousness,  of  automatism, 
or  of  the  sub-consciousness  will  take  place  under  fixed 
conditions  to  which  only  a  machine  of  iron  or  of  wood  can 
be  indifferent !  It  is  as  though  a  living  physiologist  should 
claim  to  study  a  functional  act  of  the  living  and  thinking 
person,  such  as  the  poetic  or  amorous  frenzy,  by  surround- 
ing the  poet  who  creates,  or  the  lover  who  loves,  with  his 
complicated  paraphernalia  of  "  control."  Is  it  likely  that 
he  would  accomplish  the  end  aimed  at  by  an  experiment 
so  ill-conceived  ? 

No ;  physical  facts  have  their  proper  conditions  for 
production,  but  they  cannot  be  discharged  at  our  pleasure, 
like  an  arquebus  or  an  electrical  pile. 


532  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

In  about  thirty  sittings  I  have  seen  Paladino  perform 
several  hundred  phenomena.  One  or  two  sittings  turned 
out,  it  is  true,  not  very  interesting,  especially  to  those 
who,  being  acquainted  with  her  powers  and  having  been 
present  at  the  simpler  and  more  elementary  phenomena 
(movements  of  the  table,  touching  with  invisible  hands, 
&c.),  expected  and  hoped  for  higher  and  more  complex 
manifestations.  But  there  were  sittings,  though  rare  even 
for  Eusapia,  which  compensated  for  all  the  tiresomeness 
of  the  long  evenings  passed  in  fruitless  and  unsatisfactory 
waiting,  in  which  the  summit  of  Paladino's  mediumship 
was  reached,  and  we  witnessed  the  exceptional  phenomena 
of  full  materialisations,  of  veritable  apparitions. 

In  general,  however,  all  who  are  merely  curious,  and 
many  students  of  metapsychic  facts,  have  not  patience,  do 
not  know  how  to  wait,  and  want  to  see  without  delay  the 
astonishing  things  described  in  spiritistic  works,  which 
they  know  it  to  be  possible  for  Eusapia  to  perform.  The 
impatience  of  those  who  form  new  circles,  however,  is 
harmful  to  the  spontaneity  of  the  phenomena,  because, 
although  transformed  into  mechanical  or  material  action, 
these  phenomena  are  bio-psychical  in  their  origin  ;  the 
more  important  ones  occur  especially  when  they  are  not 
asked  for  or  expected.  Contrary  to  what  is  often  said 
about  Paladino's  sittings,  these  have  to  take  place  in 
conditions  of  the  greatest  mental  calmness. 

Moreover,  the  medium  has  not  always  the  power  to  do 
what  is  desired  of  her,  whence  arises  that  tendency  to  con- 
scious or  unconscious  simulation,  about  which  such  an 
outcry  is  made ;  while,  by  reason  of  her  scanty  education, 
Eusapia  has  very  little  inventive  faculty,  even  in  her  sub- 
consciousness, which  must,  according  to  my  observations, 
almost  always  act  by  receiving  from  the  superior  or  lucid 
portion  of  the  consciousness  the  idea  of  the  impulse  to 
be  acted  upon  or  of  the  direction  to  be  given  to  such 
impulse.  The  medium,  being  a  psychically  abnormal 
person  (a  "  hysteric "),  is  suggestionable,  and  very  often 
certain  phenomena  are  performed  immediately  after  they 
have   been   spoken   of  or    asked   for   by   the   sitters ;   in 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT  GENOA         533 

such  cases  the  idea  of  the  phenomenon,  perceived  by  the 
waking  or  semi-waking  consciousness  of  Eusapia,  descends 
or  (so  to  speak)  plunges  into  her  sub-consciousness, 
in  which  is  elaborated  the  still  unknown  bio-psychic 
dynamism  of  mediumship,  and  from  thence  it  is  released 
and  emerges  in  the  form  of  mechanical  action  at  a  dis- 
tance, of  luminous  or  materialisation  phenomena,  &c. 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  define  the  mental 
state  of  the  medium  during  the  phenomena.  I  will  only 
say  here  -that  whereas  for  the  minor  phenomena  (raps, 
movements  of  the  table,  levitations,  &c.),  Eusapia  can  be 
seen  to  be  aAvake  and  attentive,  although  very  soon  her 
attention  is  restricted  to  certain  groups  of  perceptions, 
yet  in  the  case  of  the  major  phenomena,  those  of  greater 
significance  in  the  spiritist  doctrine  and  more  novel  to 
the  observer  (such  as  strong  action  at  a  distance,  the 
apparition  of  forms  or  phantasms)  it  is  necessary  that  her 
consciousness  should  be  obscured  in  "  trance,"  and  her  Avill 
in  suspense.  It  is  only  then  that  we  have  the  automatic 
discharge  of  the  energies  which  we  call  mediumistic, 
accumulated  in  her  nervous  centres;  then  only  do  we 
enter  into  the  mysterious  and  surprising  region  of  true 
"spiritism."  In  the  work  which  I  have  promised  and 
announced,  I  shall  give  all  the  fruits  of  my  observations 
and  experiments  on  the  physio-psychological  state  of  the 
medium,  on  the  symptoms  and  gradations  of  her  "  trance," 
and  on  the  various  auto-suggestive  processes  put  into 
operation  by  Eusapia  during  the  sittings ;  I  hope  to  show 
that  in  order  to  thoroughly  understand  and  appreciate 
metapsychical  phenomena  we  need  to  be  psychologists, 
and  not  merely  physicists  or  photographers  or  dilettanti 
in  curiosities  and  the  "  marvellous." 

The  mediumistic  phenomena  of  Eusapia,  as  I  have 
observed  them,  are  very  various  and  intense  in  the 
physical  sphere,  but  very  poor  in  the  intellectual  one; 
and  this,  for  me,  is  a  great  blow  to  the  spiritistic  doctrine, 
since  the  scientific  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  it,  though 
httle  acceptable  to  systematic  spiritists,  is  that  the  phe- 
n  omena  are  due  exclusively  to  the  action  of  the  mediums 


534  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

and  are  proportional  to  the  psychic  or  sub-psychic 
elements  existing  in  their  brain  by  individual  acquisition 
or  by  cumulative  heredity. 

To  reduce  somewhat  to  order  the  intricate  tangle  of 
spiritistic  psychic  manifestations,  many  classifications  have 
been  adopted. 

Some  are  merely  empirical,  grouping  the  phenomena 
according  to  their  outward  characters  without  pretending 
to  touch  their  inward  nature.  Crookes  commenced  in  this 
prudent  way  when  he  set  forth  by  "  classes  "  his  famous 
experiments  of  1870-74 ;  Gibier  followed  in  his  studies 
on  Slade,  and  so  did  the  Milan  Commission  of  1892,  and 
De  Rochas  in  his  studies  on  Eusapia,  Aksakoff,  and  Gyel 
in  the  excellent  synthetic  rdsum^s  of  spiritism,  &c. 

Other  classifications  are  of  a  theoretical  nature,  or 
attempts  to  arrange  the  phenomena  according  to  their 
inward  nature,  whether  real  or  conjectural;  and  among 
these  the  first  place  is  merited  by  that  daring  attempt 
(yet,  in  my  opinion,  lacking  in  positive  basis)  of  the  great 
psychist,  F.  W.  H.  Myers  {Human  Personality,  vol.  ii. 
p.  506  et  seq.).  Myers  has  achieved  by  his  studies  and  by 
his  devotion  a  monumental  and  admirable  work;  but 
he  has  claimed  too  much  in  trying  to  connect  the  most 
"spiritual"  and  exceptional  facts  of  "spiritism"  with  the 
most  elementary  facts  of  biology  and  psychology  ;  he  has 
not  succeeded  in  tilling  up  the  enormous,  dark,  and  still 
unfathomable  gulf  which  separates  and  distinguishes  them 
from  each  other. 

I  also  shall  try  elsewhere  to  construct  a  co-ordinated 
and  complete  scheme  of  mediumistic  nomenclature ;  but 
I  shall  take  care  to  keep  on  the  firm  ground  of  observa- 
tion. In  these  articles  I  shall  content  myself  with  group- 
ing in  a  clear  and  easily  comprehensible  manner  the 
phenomena  of  Eusapia  Avhich  have  been  observed  by 
myself.  I  do  not  deny  that  Eusapia,  like  other  mediums, 
may  have  given  other  and  more  decided  manifestations  of 
her  mcdiumship  in  sittings  at  which  I  was  not  present, 
and  may  in  the  future  give  new  and  difterent  ones,  and 
perhaps  more  convincing  in  favour  of  the  "spiritistic" 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT   GENOA         535 

hypothesis.  Nor  do  I  deny  that  she  uiay,  in  further 
experiments  or  sittings,  and  before  other  observers,  show 
herself  incapable  of  producing  the  phenomena  witnessed 
and  verified  by  me ;  not  so  much  because  Eusapia  is  not 
always  in  possession  of  equal  bio-psychic-dynamic  powers, 
as  because  the  study  of  mediumistic  forces,  but  just  com- 
menced, has  in  store  for  science  surprises  which  cannot  be 
foreseen. 

Objective  Phenomena 

The  greater  number  of  those  who  at  present  interest 
themselves  in  spiritism,  either  for  or  against,  have  been 
greatly  impressed  by  the  movements  of  the  table  pro- 
duced by  Paladino ;  the  spiritists,  and  those  who  consider 
that  the  existence  of  "  psychical  forces "  is  now  proved, 
use  them  to  demonstrate  the  reality  of  these  forces ;  the 
incredulous,  to  bring  up  all  the  objections  and  doubts, 
and  all  the  ihore  or  less  inconsistent  hypotheses  which 
have  been  put  forth  in  explanation  of  this  very  evident 
and  real  phenomenon.  But  this  typtokinesis,  to  give  it  a 
Greek  name,  forms  the  ABC  of  Paladino's  manifesta- 
tions; and  when  one  has  had  the  chances  which  I  have 
had  to  witness  the  apparition  of  phantasms,  the  phe- 
nomenon of  the  moving  table,  while  preserving  its  high 
importance  as  an  objective  fact  which  can  be  actually 
verified  by  photography,  loses  much  of  its  striking 
character  so  much  wondered  at  by  the  anti-psychists,  and 
takes  its  proper  place  among  the  much  more  numerous 
and  complex  objective  or  physical  effects  of  Eusapia's 
mediumship.  I  shall  rapidly  review  the  principal  classes 
of  phenomena,  giving  little  more  than  the  names,  and 
keeping  to  the  scheme  of  classification  most  commonly 
adopted  in  reports  and  treatises  on  psychical  subjects. 
But  every  classification  has  the  fault  of  artificiality,  and 
thus  the  following  groupings  must  be  understood  rather 
as  expressing  their  outward  form  of  production  than  as 
denoting  their  substantial  dynamical  afiinities;  such  a 
division  according  to  intrinsic  character  can  only  be  made 
after  longer  and  more  mature  experience. 


536  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

The  first  class  includes  mechanical  phenomena  with 
production  of  motion  in  objects  by  contact  with  the 
person  of  the  medium,  but  with  effects  disproportionate 
to  the  expenditure  of  ordinary  nervo-muscular  force  on 
the  part  of  the  medium  herself.  Maxwell  calls  them 
"  parakinesis,"  and  Eusapia  produces  them  both  in  dark- 
ness and  in  the  light,  always,  be  it  understood,  under 
secure  "  control." 

1.  Oscillations  and  movements  of  the  table  ivithout 
significance. — These  are  the  initial  and  elementary  facts 
of  all  the  complicated  phenomena  of  spiritism.  I  have 
felt  them  under  my  hands,  and  have  also  seen  them  with 
my  eyes,  hundreds  of  times,  since  from  beginning  to  end 
of  each  seance  with  Eusapia  the  table  is  constantly,  every 
little  while,  shakinof,  raising  itself  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
oscillating,  and  then  becoming  quiet  again  without  any- 
thing else  happening. 

2.  Movements  and  heatings  of  the  table  having  a 
significance. — These  also  are  very  frequent,  and  those 
corresponding  to  the  conventional  language  used  by 
Paladino  (two  bloAvs  "  no,"  three  blows  "  yes,"  &c.),  regulate 
for  the  most  part  the  proceedings  of  the  sitting,  order  or 
consent  to  changes  in  the  chain,  ask  for  modifications  of 
the  light,  &c.  It  is  true  that  in  Eusapia's  seances  this 
typtology  (which  we  never  encouraged  in  the  purely 
spiritistic  sense)  is  reduced  to  very  little  in  comparison 
with  the  marvellous  communications  of  a  personal  or  of  a 
philosophical-social  character  given  by  other  mediums. 
In  compensation,  Eusapia's  table  has  a  very  rich  language 
which  I  may  call  mimetic,  which  has  been  well  described 
by  L.  Barzini,  and  which  resembles  the  mimicry  of  a  child. 

3.  Complete  lifting  of  the  table  {improperly  called 
"levitation"  by  empirical  spiritists). — It  is  frequently 
seen  at  the  sittings  that  the  table  is  completely  lifted 
from  the  floor  when  the  hands  of  the  medium,  placed 
upon  it,  do  not  make  any  effort  whatever,  and  cannot 
contribute  to  it;  and  the  phenomenon  has  several  times 
been  recorded  by  photography  in  an  incontestable  manner ; 
I  shall  reproduce  some  of  the  photographs  in  my  book. 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT   GENOA         537 

4.  Movements  of  various  objects  barely  touched  by 
the  hands  or  body  of  the  Tnedium. — Eusapia,  laying  her 
hands  lightly  on  chairs  or  other  articles  of  furniture,  and 
objects  of  various  weights,  succeeds  in  imparting  to  theni 
movements  of  displacement,  of  lifting,  or  of  rotation  on 
their  own  axis,  which  are  not  to  be  explained  with  cer- 
tainty by  the  very  light  pressure  exercised  by  her. 

5.  Movements,  undidations,  and  swellings  of  the  curtains 
of  the  cabinet. — I  place  this  very  curious  phenomenon 
here  because  the  black  curtains  of  the  cabinet  are  as  a 
rule  in  contact  with  the  medium's  seat,  and  often  fall  over 
her  back.  The  curtains  move,  swell  outwards  from  within 
the  cabinet,  come  forward,  draw  back,  open  and  close, 
without  Eusapia  being  able  to  do  this  with  her  hands  and 
feet,  which  are  always  kept  under  strict  control. 

6.  Movements  and  sivelling  out  of  the  medium's  clothes. 
— This  phenomenon,  upon  which  the  Cambridge  Com- 
mission erroneously  based  a  proclamation  that  Eusapia 
cheated,  is,  on  the  contrary,  by  our  direct  observation, 
genuine;  it  takes  place  mostly  in  full  light  and  while 
Eusapia's  feet  are  closely  watched ;  the  impression  formed 
is  as  though  supernumerary  limbs,  invisible  but  palpable, 
were  formed  under  the  medium's  skirt. 

The  second  class  is  only  the  first  in  more  perfect  form, 
or  mechanical  effects  produced  without  any  contact  with 
the  person  of  the  medium,  at  a  distance  which  may  vary 
from  an  inch  or  two  to  a  yard  or  more.  They  are  the 
most  disputed,  because  they  are  incomprehensible  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinary  laws  of  physics,  which  teach  that  a 
mechanical  force  must  act  directly  on  the  resistance  offered 
by  material  bodies ;  and  yet  this  telekinesis  is  one  of  the 
things  most  frequently  seen  at  Paladino's  sittings.  I  will 
mention  summarily  the  principal  phenomena  of  this  class. 

7.  Oscillations  and  movements  of  the  table  ivithout 
contact. — We  have  verified  this  several  times;  all  of  us, 
including  Eusapia,  raised  our  hands  from  the  surface  of 
the  table,  and  the  latter  continued  to  give  proof  of  its 
ability  to  move  by  itself. 


538  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

8.  Independent  liftings  of  the  table. — This  is  a  pheno- 
menon one  prefers  to  photograph.  We  saw  in  full  light 
the  table  raised  to  the  height  of  our  heads  while  we  were 
standing  up  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  I  have  also  been 
present  at  veritable  pas  seids  of  the  table  by  full  gas-light, 
when  the  medium  was  secured  within  the  cabinet. 

9.  UndulationSy  swellings,  and  movements  of  the  curtain 
of  the  cabinet. — These  happen  also  when  the  medium  is 
evidently  at  a  distance — for  instance,  when  she  is  lying 
down  and  bound  firmly  within  the  cabinet ;  one  would 
say  that  invisible  persons  were  raising  the  curtain  with 
their  hands,  drawing  it  one  way  to  open  it  and  another 
way  to  close  it,  &c. 

10.  Movements  occasioned  in  material  objects  by  the 
hands  being  voluntarily  turned  towards  them,  but  at  a 
distance. — This  impressive  phenomenon  usually  occurs  in 
the  light  and  at  the  close  of  the  sitting.  It  is  veritable  exter- 
nalisation  of  motricity,  as  described  by  Colonel  de  Rochas, 
and  Barzini  has  given  a  very  effective  description  of  it. 

11.  Spontaneous  movements  and  displacement  of  differ- 
ent objects  at  various  distaiices  from  the  medium. — Seats 
are  seen  and  heard  to  move,  also  tables,  utensils,  musical 
instruments,  &c. ;  in  short,  the  whole  apparatus  usual  at 
spiritistic  seances,  at  such  a  distance  from  the  medium 
as  to  render  absurd  the  hypothesis  of  deception ;  I  have 
seen  such  phenomena  occur  even  at  a  distance  of  two  or 
three  yards. 

12.  Bringing  of  distant  objects  on  to  the  table. — These 
are  phenomena  in  which  Eusapia  appears  to  take  great 
pleasure.  Objects  of  every  kmd,  even  when  placed  (and 
this  is  always  to  be  understood)  in  positions  easily  verifi- 
able, acquire  under  her  mediumistic  influence  an  apparent 
power  of  self-movement,  as  though  they  were  alive.  I 
shall  narrate  elsewhere  some  astonishing  examples.  I 
ought,  however,  to  say  that  very  often  there  was  some 
connection  between  the  objects  so  moved  and  the  curtains 
of  the  cabinet,  which  perform  a  very  important  part  in 
the  phenomena  of  Paladino,  as  though  invisible  hands 
were  behind  them. 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT  GENOA         539 

13.  DisplaceTnent  of  the  seats  of  the  experiinenters. — 
This  is  another  phenomenon  highly  pleasing  to  that  jester 
"John  King."  Several  times  I  was  pulled  violently  on 
my  chair,  back  towards  the  cabinet,  to  receive  special 
manifestations  of  a  personal  character.  Sometimes  we 
felt  our  chairs  pulled  from  beneath  us,  &c. 

14.  Appropriate  movements  of  mechanical  instruments 
placed  at  a  distance. — These  really  multitudinous  pheno- 
mena relate,  for  instance,  to  the  apparently  spontaneous 
setting  in  action  of  musical  instruments  (mandoline,  zither, 
pianoforte,  trumpet,  &c.),  or  other  small  mechanical  articles 
(carillons,  metronome,  dynamometer,  &c.),  at  a  distance 
from  Eusapia.  These  occurred  at  almost  every  sitting. 
Here  I  may  mention  the  mysterious  opening  and  closing 
of  the  electric  circuit  of  the  lights  by  means  of  unper- 
ceived  manipulations  of  the  pear-shaped  switches  contained 
in  the  pocket  of  one  of  the  sitters. 

The  third  class  of  mechanical  phenomena  relates  to 
the  alteration  of  the  weight  of  bodies.  I  ought,  however, 
to  state  that  to  me  they  seemed  to  be  the  least  certain 
of  the  phenomena,  although  other  observers  guarantee 
their  authenticity. 

15.  Spontaneous  changes  of  weight  in  a  scale. — I  have 
not  seen  the  phenomenon  of  the  letter-weigher,  reported 
as  genuine  by  Colonel  de  Rochas ;  but  we  were  present  at 
the  oscillation  in  the  arm  of  a  weighing-machine  when 
it  was  not  visibly  pressed  by  Eusapia,  though  she  was 
near  to  the  platform ;  this  phenomenon,  however,  appeared 
doubtful. 

16.  Change  of  iveight  in  the  body  of  the  medium.— As 
to  this  also,  though  it  occurred  under  my  eyes,  I  have  no 
scientific  certainty,  and  I  only  mention  it  to  encourage 
students  to  make  further  researches. 

■  17.  Raising  of  the  medium's  body  in  the  car,— This  is 
the  real  "  levitation  "  which  is  narrated  to  have  been  per- 
formed by  certain  saints :  Home  was  levitated  up  to  the 
ceiling!  It  sometimes  happens  that  Eusapia  is  Hfted 
bodily,  together  with  her  chair,  and,  to  her  great  alarm. 


540  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

deposited  on  the  table.  I  have  only  once  seen  this 
"  miracle,"  contrary  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  had 
the  impression  that  it  was  genuine  at  the  beginning,  but 
was  unconsciously  aided  in  its  completion  by  the  two 
guardians;  it  would  be  well  to  see  it  again  and  study  it 
carefully. 

A  curious  class  which  has  been  little  studied  up  to 
now  is  that  of  the  mediumistic  effects  which  I  will  call 
those  of  thermal  radiation ;  it  consists  of  few  but  in- 
teresting phenomena. 

18.  Wind  froTYi  the  cabinet. — This  is  very  frequent,  and 
is  felt  at  almost  every  sitting ;  it  is  a  veritable  current  of 
air,  which  comes  from  within  the  cabinet  and  behind  the 
medium. 

19.  Intense  cold. — This  is  usually  announced  by  the 
two  controllers,  and  is  the  prelude  to  many  manifesta- 
tions :  on  certain  evenings  it  becomes  perceptible  to  all 
the  persons  forming  the  chain.  It  may  perhaps  be  sym- 
bolical of  the  cold  of  the  "  sepulchres "  which  open  to 
let  the  "  defunct "  come  forth.  Certainly  it  is  impressive 
and  is  not  hallucinatory. 

20.  Radiations  from  the  head  and  body  of  the  mediiiin. 
— On  putting  the  hand  to  Eusapia's  head,  especially  where 
she  has  a  breach  in  the  bone  caused  by  an  old  fall,  and 
sometimes  also  at  her  hands,  one  feels  a  sensible  "  breath," 
now  warm,  now  cool.  I  need  not  say  that  this  pheno- 
menon (of  which  I  shall  speak  later  at  length)  is  significant 
as  regards  the  hypothesis  of  new  nervous  forces. 

The  class  of  acoustic  phenomena  is  already  partly 
comprised  in  the  first  three,  since  very  often  movements 
at  a  distance  are  rendered  perceptible  by  noises,  sounds, 
rubbing  over  the  floor,  &c.,  of  the  objects  and  instruments 
set  in  motion.  But  there  arc  also  other  special  phenomena 
of  this  class. 

21.  Blows,  raps,  and  other  sounds  in  the  table. — Of 
the  famous  "  raps  "  of  Anglo-American  spiritism  hundreds 
have  been  heard  at  Eusapia's  sittings.     Some  have  the 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE   AT  GENOA         541 

intensity  of  blows  delivered  by  a  powerful  but  invisible 
fist.  Others  (and  not  the  least  mysterious)  take  place  in 
the  joints  of  the  wood. 

22.  Blows  and  rwps  at  a  distance  from  the  medium. — 
These  are  very  often  heard  within  the  cabinet,  or  on  the 
seats  of  the  two  guardians  and  their  neighbours,  on  the 
furniture,  on  the  walls,  in  the  cabinet,  &c. 

23.  Sounds  of  musical  instruments. — I  have  already 
alluded  to  these ;  we  have  had  them  under  such  conditions 
as  to  exclude  all  action  of  visible  and  tangible  hands  ;  the 
trumpets  emit  their  harsh  sound  in  the  air,  the  strings 
of  the  mandolines  and  zithers  vibrate,  the  keys  of  the 
pianoforte  give  detached  notes ;  and  all  this  without  any 
one  visibly  touching  them.  But  they  are  never  really 
musical  sounds,  in  my  experience,  nor  harmonic  chords, still 
less  airs  of  some  melody ;  at  the  best  they  are  rhythms  in 
measured  time. 

24.  Sounds  of  hands,  feet,  &c. — In  various  cases  the 
clapping  of  hands  is  heard,  either  behind  the  curtain  or 
in  the  air  of  the  room.  Once  or  twice  we  seemed  to  hear 
footsteps  within  the  cabinet. 

25.  Sounds  of  human  voices. — This  is  a  very  rare 
phenomenon,  and  consists  in  hearing  the  "  voices  "  of  the 
discarnate.  I  only  perceived  it  once  under  conditions 
which  were  not  convincing ;  but  this  is  not  the  place  to 
relate  the  particulars  of  my  extraordinary  spiritistic  ad- 
venture (the  apparent  materialisation  of  a  disincarnate 
being  who  was  very  dear  to  me). 

I  pass  on  to  a  class  of  manifestations  not  less  im- 
pressive and  which,  according  to  spiritists,  go  to  prove 
the  action  of  occult  "  intelligences  "  by  producing  lasting 
effects  on  inert  matter.  Eusapia,  being  uneducated,  gives 
very  few  of  these  phenomena. 

26.  Mysterious  signs  left  at  a  distance. — These  consist 
in  signs  or  marks  found  on  the  table,  on  the  cuffs  of  the 
sitters,  or  on  the  wall,  and  seem  to  be  made  with  pencil. 
They  do  not  appear  to  me  sufficiently  certain  to  merit 
attention. 


542  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

27.  Direct  writing. — This  is  supposed  to  be  writing 
made  directly  by  the  "spirits"  without  the  apparent 
action  of  hands,  whether  done  with  visible  writing  in- 
struments (pencil  or  crayon)  or  without.  But  Eusapia 
is  illiterate  and  cannot  write,  and  in  all  the  sittings  at 
which  I  was  present  only  two  or  three  times  did  there 
appear  signs  of  writing  which  might  be  taken  for  badly 
formed  letters.  The  spirits  evoked  by  the  Apulian 
countrywoman  seemed  also  to  be  very  ignorant;  and 
this  appears  to  me  to  be  a  very  grave  objection  to  the 
spiritistic  hypothesis. 

28.  Impressions  in  plastic  substances.  —  This  is  a 
favourite  phenomenon  with  students  of  psychical  matters, 
and  Eusapia  gives  good  examples  of  it,  although  some- 
times under  circumstances  suggestive  of  doubt.  They  are 
impressions  of  fingers,  palms,  hands,  fists,  feet,  and  also  of 
faces,  generally  in  full  profile  or  half  profile ;  these  faces 
have  a  certain  resemblance  to  a  Eusapia  grown  old, 
and  in  fact  are  said  to  be  reproductions  of  the  face  of 
"  John  King,"  her  father  in  a  former  life.  At  our  sit- 
tings we  obtained  many  such  impressions,  and  as  to  the 
greater  part  of  them,  we  are  certain  that  there  was  no 
deception. 

29.  Apports. — These  figure  as  phenomena  of  the  very 
foremost  rank  in  the  history  and  doings  of  the  most 
famous  mediums.  The  phenomenon  is  one  of  the  greatest 
significance  for  the  spiritist  doctrine  of  the  disaggregation 
and  reconstitution  .of  matter,  for  it  consists  in  the  un- 
expected) appearance  on  the  table  or  in  the  room  of 
objects  (such  as  flowers,  branches,  leaves,  iron  nails,  coins, 
stones,  &c.)  coming  from  a  distance  and  penetrating 
through  doors  and  walls.  This  phenomenon  was  re- 
ported two  or  three  times  during  our  sittings,  but  I 
frankly  confess  that  I  was  not  convinced  of  it,  which 
does  not  imply  that  under  better  observation  it  might 
not  be  real  also  in  the  case  of  Paladino,  as  it  seems  to 
have  been  through  the  agency  of  other  mediums. 

30.  Knotting  and  unknotting  of  a  piece  of  string, 
cords,  &c.,  in  the  dark  cabinet  as  well  as  on  the  person 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE    AT   GENOA         543 

of  Eusapia. — I  have  seen  this  phenomenon  on  several 
occasions. 

We  now  come  to  the  higher  ranges  of  phenomena,  to 
those  which  constitute  the  true  basis  of  spiritism  ;  I  refer 
to  the  category  of  materialisations.  This  is  a  case  of 
creation  ex  novo,  by  the  use  of  the  vital  fluid  or  spirit 
of  the  medium,  of  forms  more  or  less  organised,  having 
the  physical  characteristics  assigned  by  us  to  matter,  that 
is,  of  being  resistant  to  the  sense  of  touch  and  muscular 
pressure  (tangible),  and  of  being  sometimes  endowed  with 
light  of  their  own  (luminous),  but  for  the  most  part  only 
capable  of  arresting  exterior  rays  of  light  (thus  rendering 
themselves  visible). 

The  first  sub-class  is  that  of  solid  materialisations, 
which  I  will  call  mediumistic  stereosis  or  plasmation. 

31.  Touching,  feeling,  and  grasping  by  invisible 
hands. — These  form  a  very  common  phenomenon  at  the 
dark  seances,  or  by  a  faint  light,  or  a  red  light;  and 
they  are  really  human  hands  which  touch,  press,  grasp, 
pull,  push,  pat  lightly,  strike,  pull  the  sitters'  beards  or 
hair,  take  off  their  spectacles,  &c.  Some  of  those  to  whom 
such  contacts  were  new  have  been  caused  to  shudder,  and 
really  the  first  time  they  cause  quite  an  impression. 

32.  Organisations  of  solid  forms  halving  the  charac- 
teristics of  human  limbs. — These  are  usually  hands,  arms, 
shoulders  (?),  and  even  heads,  which  are  felt  behind  the 
curtain,  and  seem  to  be  pieces  or  fragments  of  a  being 
which  is  in  process  of  formation ;  occasionally  they  give 
the  tangible  impression  of  the  whole  of  a  person.  On 
being  grasped  through  the  curtain  they  usually  withdraw 
hastily ;  but  sometimes  they  remain  long  enough  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  handled,  especially  the  faces.  The  in- 
visible mouth  also  makes  movements  indicative  of  kissing, 
biting,  &c.,  usually  under  cover  of  the  stuff. 

33.  Organisation  of  hands,  naked  and  distinguish- 
able to  the  touch. — At  certain  times  we  felt  ourselves 
touched  by  real  human  hands,  having  the  character  of 
members  of  a  living  being ;  we  felt  the  skin,  the  warmth, 
the  movable  fingers,  &c.     On  grasping  them  one  felt  the 


544  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

impression  of  hands  dissolving  away,  as  though  composed 
of  semi-jQuid  substance. 

34.  Complicated  actions  of  materialised  forms,  tangible 
but  invisible. — These  hands,  arras,  heads,  and  half  persons, 
while  remaining  imperceptible  to  the  sight  even  on  look- 
ing into  the  cabinet,  behind  the  curtains,  advance  towards 
the  sitters,  touch  and  feel  them,  embrace,  grasp,  draw 
them  nearer,  or  push  them  away,  caress  and  kiss  them, 
with  all  the  movements  of  living  and  real  persons.  They 
also  execute  still  more  complex  actions,  both  in  the  shade 
of  the  cabinet  and  in  front  of  it,  with  the  interposition  of 
the  curtain,  which  is  swelled  out  and  projected  for  the 
purpose  on  to  the  table  or  towards  the  seats  of  those  near, 
even  though  out  of  the  chain ;  and  also  in  full  freedom  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  sitters,  so  that  some  of  those  present 
feel  themselves  invisibly  pushed  against,  pressed,  their 
pockets  searched,  &c.  This  last  astonishing  manifesta- 
tion (of  those  previously  mentioned  I  am  quite  certain) 
occurred  very  rarely,  and  only  in  complete  darkness  or  by 
a  very  faint  light  which  did  not  allow  anything  to  be 
clearly  seen,  so  that,  though  I  was  present  one  evening 
when  it  occurred,  I  cannot  remove  from  my  mind  all 
uncertainty  and  should  require  fuller  and  more  convinc- 
ing demonstration.  Some  of  those  present  believed  that 
they  recognised  and  "  identified  "  these  invisible  forms,  by 
means  of  impressions  of  touch  and  feeling  through  the 
curtains.  But,  in  the  cases  at  which  I  was  present,  the 
identification  does  not  sustain,  as  I  shall  show,  a  critical 
analysis  of  the  psychological  origin  of  the  phenomenon ; 
the  latter,  however,  remains  real  and  authentic,  though 
incomprehensible. 

I  collect  into  one  small  group  the  elementary  luminous 
phenomena,  self- visible  or  visible  by  exterior  light,  but  not 
organised. 

35,  Appearance  of  luminous  points. — These  are  the 
celebrated  "  spirit  lights " ;  Eusapia  produces  them  from 
time  to  time,  but  not  with  the  intensity  of  other  mediums 
whom  I  have  seen.  Thc}^  are  indefinable  glow-lights, 
sometimes  like  very  bright  globules  of  light,  sometimes 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE    AT   GENOA         545 

veritable  "  tongues  of  fire,"  like  those  ligured  on  the  heads 
of  the  Apostles.  They  have  not  been  photographed,  as  far 
as  I  know  ;  but  they  are  very  evident,  sometimes  multiple, 
and  running  together  into  one ;  it  is  impossible  as  well  as 
absurd  for  those  who  have  once  seen  them,  to  compare 
them  with  artificial  phosphorescent  effects,  not  to  speak 
of  identifying  them  with  the  latter. 

36.  Appearance  of  whitish  clouds  or  mists. — These  do 
not  seem  to  be  endowed  with  light  of  their  own,  since 
they  can  only  be  discerned  in  a  dim  light,  outside  the 
curtains,  or  within  the  cabinet ;  sometimes  they  surround 
Eusapia's  head,  or  rise  over  her  body  when  she  lies  down 
inside  the  cabinet. 

I  place  the  visible  materialisations  last,  because  they 
appear  to  be  formed  by  a  very  subtle  substance  or  matter 
emanating  from  the  person  of  the  medium  and  composed 
of  particles  or  molecules  which  obstruct  ordinary  light 
("  teleplastic  "). 

37.  Formation  of  dark  prolongations  of  the  body  of  the 
medium. — These  are  the  supernumerary  members  seen 
and  described  by  all  those  who  had  previously  experi- 
mented with  Paladino.  Visible  in  half  light  or  in  very 
faint  light,  and  when  the  actual  hands  of  Eusapia  are  also 
in  full  view  and  well  guarded,  these  neo-plastic  append- 
ages perform  many  of  the  phenomena  above  described 
(touching  and  feeling  of  those  near,  blows  on  the  chairs, 
movement  of  objects,  &c.).     I  shall  give  drawings  of  them 

38.  Forms  having  the  appearance  of  arms  and  hands 
coming  out  of  the  cabinet. — This  manifestation  is  not 
rare,  and  has  been  already  mentioned  by  those  who  were 
present  at  previous  sittings  with  Eusapia.  Being  short- 
sighted, I  was  not  always  able  to  see  them  distinctly,  but 
my  perception,  even  when  indistinct,  has  always  corre- 
sponded Avith  what  has  been  seen  more  clearly  by  others 
present  who  have  been  endowed  with  better  sight. 

39.  Appearance  of  hands.— These  are  among  the  more 
common  and  recognised  spiritistic  manifestations.  The 
hands  usually  appear  with  indistinct  or  evanescent  out- 
lines, of  a  whitish  colour,  almost  transparent,  and  with 

2  M 


546  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

elongated  fingers  (the  drawings  I  shall  give  will  be  very  ex- 
pressive). I  have  perceived  them  very  clearly  every  time 
that  I  Avas  in  a  position  favourable  for  seeing  them ;  and  they 
were  certainly  not  the  medium's  hands,  which  were  simul- 
taneously watched,  and  also  visible  to  all,  above  the  table. 

40.  Appearance  of  obscure  forms  of  indeterminate 
character  or  not  very  evident. — These  are  "  incomplete 
materialisations."  Sometimes  there  are  seen,  advancing 
and  disappearing  in  the  half  light,  black  globes  (heads  ?), 
indefinable  shadowy  appendages  (arms  ?  fists  ?)  ;  sometimes 
shadows  with  crooked  profiles  which  may  be  conjectured 
to  be  bearded  ("John  King");  and  again  on  the  semi- 
luminous  background  there  appear  blackish  shapes,  flat, 
and  seeming  as  though  transparent,  strangely  formed,  and 
gesticulating  in  an  uncouth  manner.  They  manifested  to 
me  in  particular  at  the  sittings  of  1901  and  1902,  and  I 
perceived  them  so  distinctly  (as  confirmed  by  my  com- 
panions) that  I  was  able,  as  will  be  seen,  to  draw  them  one 
by  one. 

41.  Ajypearance  of  forms  having  determinate  and  2yer- 
sonal  characteristics,  unknown  to  any  of  the  sitters. — We 
are  now  at  the  end,  because  these  are  the  "  complete 
materialisations "  and  constitute  the  apex  of  Eusapia's 
mediumship  up  to  the  present  (other  mediums,  including 
Florence  Cook  and  Mme.  d'Esperance,  have  given  much 
more  marvellous  and  truly  incredible  ones).  I  have  seen 
these  supreme  phenomena  a  few  times  only,  for  they  are 
rare  events  in  Eusapia's  mediumship.  They  are  well- 
delineated  faces,  heads,  and  half  busts  of  personages, 
mostly  unknown,  not  recognised  by  any  one  present,  or 
who  are  identified  and  named  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
notions  belonging  to  the  traditional  history  of  spiritism. 
If  this  is  so,  I  must  have  seen  the  same  phantasms  which 
the  celebrated  Sir  William  Crookcs  saw,  and,  moreover, 
had  under  his  hands ;  that  is  to  say,  there  re-appeared  at 
our  seances  with  Eusapia  the  spirit  guide  of  Florence 
Cook,  "  Katie  King,"  who,  moreover,  is  a  relative  of  "John 
King " !  I  will  publish  the  curious  portrait  which  I 
sketched  at  once  in  pencil. 


EXPERIMENTS   MADE    AT   GENOA         547 

42.  Appearance  of  forms  having  a  personality  known 
to  one  of  the  sitters. — Besides  seeing  some  personal  forms 
tangibly  materialised,  I  must  also  have  been  present  at 
a  real  spirit  evocation !  On  this  occasion  the  appari- 
tion was  somewhat  doubtfully  identified  and  named  by 
living  members  of  his  family  present  at  the  sitting ;  but 
with  regard  to  myself,  I  did  not  gain  from  this  extra- 
ordinary event  in  my  "  spiritistic  "  experience  that  impres- 
sion of  obvious  certainty  which  the  man  of  science,  the 
psychologist  who  studies  this  very  new  branch  of  science, 
and  is  habituated  to  the  rules  of  the  strict  positive  method, 
is  obliged  to  impose  upon  himself  and  has  the  right  to 
claim  from  others. 

I  do  not  desire  to  dwell  at  present  on  this  part  of 
Paladino's  phenomena ;  the  space  which  has  been  assigned 
to  me  will  not  permit  of  descriptions  or  discussions,  but 
only  of  a  pure  and  simple  synthetic  resume  of  my  personal 
experiences. 

Thus,  in  the  phenomena  in  which  Paladino's  medium- 
ship  manifests  itself,  we  have,  according  to  my  provisional 
scheme,  nine  classes  and  thirty-nine  orders  of  manifesta- 
tions ;  I  may  possibly  have  forgotten  one  or  two,  and  per- 
haps have  grouped  together  several  which  ought  to  have 
been  classed  separately ;  certainly  I  did  not  see  all  that 
were  possible,  and  other  observers  may  add  some  which 
are  unknown  to  me.  All  this  is  very  different  from  the 
simple  lifting  of  the  table,  or  the  trick  of  exchanging 
hands  or  withdrawing  the  feet. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII 

METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION   IN   PSYCHICAL 
PHENOMENA 

General  Arrangements,  Spontaneous  Phenomena, 
Fraud  in  Psychical  Experiments 

Psychical  phenomena  are  essentially  different  from 
chemical,  physical,  or  other  phenomena,  scientifically 
observed,  by  their  nature,  the  manner  m  which  they  can 
be  known  and  the  re-agents  which  reveal  them  to  our 
observation.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that  the  method 
employed  in  studying  them  should  also  be  special. 

In  the  study  of  chemical  phenomena  the  experimenter 
deals  with  bodies  which,  in  the  same  conditions,  are 
always  identical.  When  he  combines  these  different 
bodies,  it  is  always  possible,  in  a  general  manner,  to 
forecast,  almost  certainly,  the  result  of  the  experiment 
undertaken. 

In  the  study  of  physical  phenomena  the  conditions  are 
a  little  more  delicate.  The  physicist  employs  instruments 
more  or  less  accurate,  but  always  constructed  on  experi- 
mental data ;  the  working  of  these  instruments,  however 
perfect  it  may  be,  still  demands  certain  conditions  which 
do  not  always  depend  upon  the  experimenter. 

Every  one  knows,  for  example,  that  an  electrical 
machine  is  affected  by  the  hygrometric  conditions  of  the 
air;  but,  in  addition,  there  are  conditions  in  which  the 
output  of  the  same  machine  is  variable,  and  in  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  science  we  arc  not  able  to  determine  the 
cause.  In  the  same  way  photography  (in  which  the 
chemical  action  of  light  on  the  sensitive  plate  is  com- 
bined with  the  physical  phenomenon  of  refraction  of 
luminous  rays  and  the  operation  of  a  physical  apparatus, 

548 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         549 

the  camera)  often  affords   the   experimenters  some  un- 
expected surprises. 

More  dehcate  still  is  the  experimentation  with  psychical 
phenomena ;  here  the  reagent  is  not  an  inert  body ;  the 
instrument  is  not  an  insensible  mechanism ;  it  is  a  human 
being,  endowed  with  all  physiological  sensibility. 

If  we  first  of  all  examine  this  very  delicate  instrument 
which  constitutes  the  necessary  subject  for  experiment, 
we  find  him  exceedingly  variable.  He  varies,  first  of  all, 
by  reason  of  his  characteristic  nature,  which  is  necessi- 
tated by  his  race,  his  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
development ;  in  the  second  place,  by  his  temperament, 
the  result  of  various  pre-dispositions  derived  from  his 
ancestors.  To  these  causes  of  variability  which  exist 
between  the  different  subjects  must  be  added  others 
which  cause  the  same  subject  not  to  be  identical  with 
himself  at  different  periods  of  his  existence.  The  more 
or  less  perfect  state  of  health,  down  to  a  state  of  illness, 
causes  infinite  changes  in  the  faculties  of  the  subject,  as 
Avell  as  in  his  physical  vigour  and  intellectual  capacity. 
Even  in  the  state  of  good  health  many  passing  pheno- 
mena exercise  a  considerable  influence  on  our  dispositions 
at  the  moment.  Digestion,  sleep,  fatigue,  only  to  mention 
a  few  of  them,  have  an  action  on  our  whole  being  that 
cannot  be  denied. 

Another  cause  of  variability  of  the  subject  consists  in 
the  sentiments  awakened  in  him  by  the  persons  in  whose 
presence  he  is.  You  will  observe  that  it  is  not  necessary 
that  the  subject  should  know  the  persons  beforehand. 
This  feeling  of  attraction  or  repulsion,  pleasure  or  dislike, 
which  we  nearly  always  experience  at  the  sight  of  a 
person,  even  a  stranger,  a  feeling  which  later  changes 
into  sympathy  or  antipathy,  is  infallibly  experienced  by 
the  subject,  sometimes  unknown  to  himself,  and  this 
feeling,  even  when  unconscious,  exercises  in  many  ways  an 
action  on  his  psychical  condition.  We  can  understand  this 
influence  better  if  we  remember  that  our  subjects  are  sensi- 
tives, that  is  to  say,  persons  of  very  great  impressionability, 
of  a  sensitiveness  more  than  normally  developed. 


550  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

We  have  seen  up  to  now  the  internal  influences  that 
affect  the  subject — that  is  to  say,  the  causes  of  variability 
in  himself;  but  the  whole  external  world,  the  objects  and 
the  persons  surrounding  him,  also  exercise  on  him  an 
influence  not  less  important. 

Everything  which  acts  on  the  physical  being,  the 
temperature,  atmospheric  pressure,  meteorological  pheno- 
mena, find  their  echo  in  his  psychic  state.  We  spoke  just 
now  of  the  action  of  the  feelings  of  sympathy  or  antipathy 
which  he  may  experience  for  persons  in  whose  presence 
he  finds  himself.  There  is  also  an  altogether  different 
influence  which  acts  on  the  subject  from  without  inwards: 
an  action  produced  by  certain  persons  quite  unconsciously, 
but  which  is  capable  of  greatly  aftecting  the  conditions 
and  faculties  of  the  subject.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising 
if  some  subjects  are  powerless  to  produce  certain  pheno- 
mena or  to  succeed  with  an  experiment,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  certain  person,  or,  if  sometimes,  unconsciously, 
though  quite  distinctly,  the  subject  asks  that  a  certain 
person  shall  not  be  present  at  the  experiments.  We  need 
not  see  in  this  fact,  which  has  given  rise  to  discussions  of 
every  description,  either  caprice  on  the  part  of  the  subject, 
or  reason  to  suspect  his  good  faith,  but  simply  the  evidence 
of  a  natural  influence  unfavourable  to  the  production  of 
the  phenomena. 

The  experimenter  who,  in  other  sciences,  only  takes 
what  may  be  termed  an  anonymous  part  in  the  experi- 
ments— that  is  to  say,  who  represents  merely  the  sum  of 
his  knowledge  and  of  his  ability — exercises  in  experiments 
with  psychic  phenomena  a  real,  personal  influence.  Like 
the  subject  himself,  but,  as  we  shall  see  later,  in  varying 
degrees,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  experiments  in 
which  he  is  engaged,  he  takes  an  active  part  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  phenomena. 

First  of  all,  in  the  same  way  as  each  of  the  sitters,  he 
arouses  in  the  subject  feelings  of  sympathy  or  antipathy, 
and  these  feelings  are  of  all  the  more  importance  as  the 
part  taken  by  the  experimenter  is  greater.  With  regard 
to  these  feelings  which  the  experimenter  arouses  in  the 


METH(3D   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         551 

subject,  it  should  be  observed  tliat  sometimes,  for  a 
certain  time,  the  latter  experiences  curiosity  or  a  certain 
fear,  which  proceeds  from  his  believing  himself  to  be  in 
the  presence  of  a  mysterious  power.  These  feelings  of 
curiosity  or  of  fear  may  be  very  useful  in  the  direction 
of  the  experiments,  and  we  must  learn  to  take  advantage 
of  them ;  but  we  must  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
these  feelings  are  only  transitory,  and  that,  after  a  certain 
time,  they  are  infallibly  transformed  into  attraction  or 
repulsion,  sympathy  or  antipathy,  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  transformation,  the  subject  may  become 
powerless  to  produce  the  smallest  phenomenon,  or  he 
may  refuse  in  future  to  lend  himself  to  new  experiments. 
The  experimenter  ought,  therefore,  to  watch  his  subject 
attentively,  and,  in  many  cases,  he  can  moderate  his 
impressions  and  give  to  his  ideas  a  direction  at  once 
reasonable  and  useful. 

After  the  feelings  awakened  spontaneously  in  the 
subject  in  regard  to  the  experimenter,  we  must  examine 
the  direct  action  of  the  psychic  forces  on  each  of  them. 
There  may  be  harmony  between  the  qualities  and  the 
natures  of  the  two  psychic  forces  present.  In  this  case, 
if  one  of  them  is  better  directed,  or  is  superior  to  the 
other,  it  may  conduct,  train,  and  use  the  latter  for  the 
realisation  of  the  phenomenon  sought  for.  If  these  two 
psychic  forces,  without  being  absolutely  harmonious,  are 
not  too  difterent  from  each  other,  and  if  that  of  the 
experimenter  is  superior  to  that  of  the  subject,  the  former 
can  dominate  the  latter,  and  by  the  combination  obtain 
good  effects  ;  but  if  these  two  forces  are  absolutely  opposed, 
the  experiments  will  be  completely  impossible  for  this 
experimenter  with  that  subject,  and  it  would  be  better 
to  give  up  the  attempt. 

It  is  to  that  cause  that  we  must  attribute  the  fact 
frequently  observed  that  some  subjects,  who  have  given 
evident  proof  of  psychic  qualities,  seem  suddenly  to  have 
lost  all  their  faculties  and  to  be  unable  to  give  any  result 
when  they  are  with  another  experimenter.  Doubtless, 
in  certain  cases,  the  operator  may  be  responsible  for  the 


552  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

non-success,  for  an  inexperienced  or  ignorant  experimenter 
may  not  know  how  to  use  a  subject,  even  in  the  most 
favourable  conditions ;  but  there  are  also  cases  in  which, 
in  spite  of  experience  and  knowledge,  the  results  would 
be  nil,  because  the  psychic  force  of  the  experimenter 
cannot  harmonise  with  that  of  the  subject. 

As  the  experimenter  takes  an  active  part  in  the 
production  of  certain  phenomena,  it  is  very  clear  that, 
especially  in  these  experiments,  we  must  take  account  of 
all  the  internal  and  external  conditions  whose  influence 
on  the  subject  we  have  already  studied.  Thus,  states  of 
illness,  fatigue,  or  overwork,  leading  to  a  depression  of  the 
physical  powers,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  a  diminution 
of  the  energy  of  the  will ;  transitory  physiological  dis- 
turbances, like  those  which  result  from  digestion  or  want 
of  food,  fatigue  or  sleep,  disturbances  which  affect  the 
nervous  centres,  either  directly  or  through  the  circulation, 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  relation  to  this  class  of 
experiments. 

The  experimenter  in  psychical  research  ought  to  pre- 
sent a  certain  number  of  natural  and  acquired  qualities 
which  are  absolutely  indispensable  to  success.  He  must 
direct  the  experiments  and  the  subjects;  the  latter  will 
not  be  always  easy  to  manage.  Their  nervous  and  im- 
pressionable nature  usually  renders  them  whimsical  and 
capricious.  If  phenomena  of  some  interest  are  obtained 
with  them,  it  often  happens  that  they  become  vain,  appro- 
priating all  the  honour,  and  becoming  more  and  more 
exacting,  thinking  themselves  indispensable.  In  addition 
to  the  natural  mobility  of  their  mind,  the  fact  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of  that,  for  the  most  part,  they  are  not  led, 
as  we  are,  by  interest  in  psychical  research.  When  the 
attraction  of  the  novelty  has  worn  off,  when  their  curiosity 
has  been  more  or  less  satisfied,  they  begin  to  grow  tired 
of  the  experiments;  they  put  less  goodwill  and  energy 
into  them,  sometimes  they  refuse  to  continue  them. 

It  is  for  the  experimenter  to  forestall  and  overcome 
these  difficulties  by  trying  to  ascertain  beforehand  the 
tendencies  of  his  different  subjects.     He  must  certainly 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         553 

not  give  in  to  all  their  whims,  which  might  become  in- 
numerable and  render  all  work  impossible;  but  ho  must 
also  not  rebuff  them,  so  that  he  obtains  their  co-operation 
only  through  fear.  He  must,  during  the  experiments, 
know  how  to  make  himself  accessible  to  his  subjects, 
amusing  them  and  making  himself  agreeable  to  them ; 
he  must  so  contrive  that  each  new  experiment  awakens 
in  them  a  fresh  interest,  and  urges  them  on  to  emulation. 
It  is  necessary  for  this  that  the  experimenter  should  have 
a  deep  knowledge  of  psycho-physiology,  together  with  tact, 
versatility,  and  prudence,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  acquire 
the  necessary  authority  over  his  subjects. 

In  spite  of  that,  difficulties  will  not  fail  sometimes  to 
arise,  whether  they  be  obstacles  springing  from  the  general 
condition  of  the  experiments  or  troubles  arising  from  the 
unwillingness  or  inexperience  of  the  subjects.  Untiring 
patience  will  alone  enable  the  experimenter  to  triumph 
over  these  difficulties;  he  should  never  allow  himself  to 
show  the  annoyances  or  disappointments  which  may  be 
caused  by  badly  managed  or  fruitless  experiments.  But, 
though  he  ought  to  appear  imperturbable,  the  experimenter 
ought  to  be  a  very  careful  and  able  observer — he  ought 
to  give  proof  of  a  sagacity  and  attention  continuously 
maintained ;  all  his  senses  ought  to  be  constantly  awake 
and  perfectly  exercised,  in  order  to  seize  the  sUghtest 
symptoms  which  might  pass  unperceived  by  less  ex- 
perienced persons. 

In  order  to  direct  the  experiments  properly,  he  must 
exercise  on  the  subjects  and  on  all  who  take  part,  or  are 
present  as  spectators,  an  absolute  and  incontestable  autho- 
rity, but  which  will  have  all  the  greater  force  the  less  it 
is  felt.  Good  manners,  dignity,  the  esteem  which  he 
ought  to  enjoy,  united  with  the  qualities  we  have  enu- 
merated, will  assure  to  the  experimenter  this  authority, 
which  will  be  enhanced  by  the  acquired  and  scientific 
qualities  of  which  we  shall  speak. 

Numerous  and  extensive  scientific  attainments  are,  in 
fact,  mdispensable  in  order  properly  to  direct  the  study 
of  psychic  phenomena.     A  deep  knowledge  of  psycho- 


554  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

physiology  is  necessary  in  order  to  discover  the  subjects, 
discern  their  aptitudes,  know  how  to  use  and  direct  them. 
Hypnology  furnishes  the  means  of  action  by  which  the 
subjects  can  be  influenced,  at  the  same  time  as  it  enables 
them  to  be  completely  protected  from  all  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which  might  result  to  them  from  experiments 
made  without  due  precaution  or  the  cause  of  which  was  left 
to  chance.  In  combination  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
nervous  pathology,  this  science  also  enables  us  to  discover 
the  slightest  trace  of  simulation  or  trickery  which  may 
be  mixed  with  the  experiments  and  falsify  the  results. 
Finally,  at  every  moment,  the  physical  and  chemical 
sciences,  the  most  delicate  mechanical  apparatus,  ought 
to  be  employed,  the  better  to  observe  and  analyse,  control, 
and  register  the  phenomena  experimented  upon. 

After  having  examined  the  conditions  requisite  for 
good  experimentation  in  so  far  as  the  subjects  and  opera- 
tors are  concerned,  we  have  likewise  to  consider  the 
various  methods  that  may  be  applied  to  the  different 
categories  of  the  phenomena  which  we  may  have  to 
study. 

Methodical  classification  of  the  phenomena  is  indis- 
pensable, because  they  are  so  different  in  their  nature  and 
manifestation  that  it  is  impossible  to  study  them  without 
equally  varying  the  means  of  examination  and  control. 

Spontaneous  Phenoniena 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  to  examine  the  method  to 
be  followed  in  the  observation  of  spontaneous  phenomena. 

We  call  spontaneous  phenomena  those  which  occur 
without  the  actual  intervention  of  the  experimenter ;  and 
they  must  be  subdivided  into  phenomena  which  are  pro- 
duced without  conscious  intervention  of  the  subject,  and 
phenomena  caused  by  the  subject  either  consciously  or 
even  voluntarily. 

As  I'sgards  the  observation  of  haunted  houses  in  par- 
ticular, it  is  of  special  interest  that  these  phenomena 
should  be  observed  by  persons  accustomed  to  experiment- 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         555 

ing  in  psychical  phenomena ;  that  is  the  only  way  to 
avoid  the  exaggerations  of  too  credulous  minds,  or  the 
prejudiced  negations  of  persons  who  are  not  even  willing 
to  take  the  trouble  to  observe  them. 

That  is  why  the  Societe  Universelle  d'Etudes  Psychiques 
has  asked  for  information  from  its  correspondents  on  the 
appearance  of  these  phenomena,  and,  as  soon  as  it  receives 
information,  sends  a  committee  to  make  a  careful  inquiry 
on  the  spot. 

Here  are  the  rules  which  the  observers  ought  to  follow 
when  they  receive  information  of  a  fact  of  this  character, 
and  when  they  are  at  the  place  where  the  phenomena 
occur. 

Two  eventualities  are  possible : — 

(a)  The  phenomena  are  no  longer  produced  ; 

(6)  The  phenomena  continue. 

(a)  The  phenomena  are  no  longer  produced. — The  first 
care  of  the  observers  should  be  to  interrogate  the  witnesses, 
and  divide  these  witnesses  into  three  categories : — 

(1)  The  witnesses  who  have  heard  immediately  the 
account  of  the  phenomena ; 

(2)  The  witnesses  who  have  seen  them  ; 

(3)  The  witnesses  who  have  taken  part  in  them. 

The  witnesses  of  the  first  category  are  evidently  the 
least  important.  Nevertheless,  their  personal  worth  may 
give  the  greater  value  to  their  testimony;  for  example, 
the  doctor,  the  vicar,  or  the  notary  of  a  village,  who 
have  interrogated  the  eye-witnesses  immediately  after 
the  events,  can  often  give  us  a  much  more  accurate 
idea  than  those  who  saw  and  reported  one  or  two  days 
later. 

The  witnesses  mentioned  in  the  second  category,  those 
who  saw  the  phenomena,  are  very  important.  The  m- 
vestigators  will  take  every  care  to  question  them  and  note 
their  replies. 

Some  of  the  witnesses  will  have  seen  the  whole  of  the 
phenomena ;  others  will  only  have  seen  a  part.  In  both 
cases  the  investigator  will  take  every  care  to  make  them  say, 
with  all  possible  accuracy  and  precision,  all  that  they  saw. 


556  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

In  order  to  do  that,  it  is  necessary  to  eliminate  all  the 
remarks  and  explanations  that  the  witnesses  are  too 
much  tempted  to  add  to  their  statements. 

It  is  necessary  to  note  the  bare  facts  of  what  they 
saw,  without  neglecting  any.  The  smallest  fact,  precisely 
stated,  is  of  greater  importance  than  the  longest  explana- 
tion the  witnesses  can  give. 

In  the  thu'd  category — the  witnesses  who  have  taken 
part  in  the  phenomena  —  we  have  persons  still  better 
placed  to  observe  them  well,  and  consequently  their 
depositions  are  still  more  important. 

Among  these  we  include  all  those  who  have  ascertained 
the  phenomena  otherwise  than  by  seeing  and  hearing:  those, 
for  example,  who  have  been  touched  by  the  objects  set  in 
motion;  those  who  restored  to  their  places  the  articles 
that  have  been  displaced  and  have  seen  them  moved 
again ;  those  who  have  shut  up  in  a  cupboard  or  in  a 
room  some  articles  that  have  afterwards  been  found  dis- 
placed or  removed,  on  condition  that  they  have  been 
able  to  testify  that  no  one  else  could  get  at  the  objects 
to  remove  them ;  and,  lastly,  those  who  have  repaired 
the  damage  caused  by  the  force  operating. 

All  this  evidence  being  collected  and  immediately 
noted,  the  investigator  ought  to  observe  for  himself  the 
marks  left  by  the  phenomena.  He  must  look  for  the 
traces  of  the  contacts,  rubbings,  blows,  &c.,  left  on  the 
furniture  or  on  the  walls ;  for  marks  on  the  floor  or  on 
the  dust  caused  by  the  movement  of  the  furniture. 

Articles  damaged  or  broken  should  be  specially  ex- 
amined, and  this  will  be  of  the  greater  importance,  par- 
ticularly if  the  investigator  can  arrive  before  the  objects 
have  been  picked  up,  replaced,  or,  more  important  still, 
repaired. 

From  these  traces  we  endeavour  to  determine  the 
intensity  of  the  force  manifested ;  the  direction  of  this 
force  and  its  starting-point ;  the  form  and  nature  of  the 
material  object  which  has  left  the  traces. 

These  marks  should  be  correctly  measured  in  their 
dimensions  and  their  relative  distances  from  each  other ; 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         557 

further,  if  it  is  possible,  those  which  arc  most  important 
should  be  sketched  or  photographed. 

Possessed  of  these  important  documents,  the  investigator 
should  first  of  all  seek  to  ascertain  Avhether  the  phenomena 
observed  could  be  produced  by  any  ordinary  cause,  the 
instability  of  certain  objects,  a  shaking  of  the  house  com- 
ing from  without ;  he  will  pass  successively  in  review  all 
the  atmospheric  forces,  air-currents,  wind,  temperature, 
electricity. 

Having,  as  a  rule,  rapidly  eliminated  all  these  causes, 
he  will  look  for  trickery,  by  inquiry,  if  any  person  present, 
or  near,  could,  from  within  or  without,  produce  all  the 
facts  that  have  been  ascertained. 

If  the  phenomena  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  of  these 
ordinary  causes,  since  the  facts  have  ceased  to  occur,  he 
must  now  look  for  the  cause  of  the  cessation  of  the 
phenomena.  He  will  carefully  note  all  the  persons  who 
have  left  the  house,  and  whose  departure  coincided  with 
the  cessation  of  the  phenomena.  He  will  then  see  if 
the  phenomena  have  not  coincided  with  the  sickness 
of  any  person  and  their  cessation  with  his  return  to 
health. 

Finally,  he  ought  to  examine  separately  and  minutely 
all  the  persons  living  in  the  house,  and  all  those  who  have 
been  present  at  the  phenomena.  This  examination  ought 
to  turn  particularly  on  the  state  of  their  nervous  system, 
and  on  their  psycho-physiology  and  pathology.  The  ex- 
amination of  their  nervous  equilibrium  and  projection  of 
force  by  means  of  the  sthenometer,  if  it  can  be  done,  would 
be  of  the  utmost  importance. 

If  the  result  should  point  to  the  probability  of  a 
certain  person  being  the  medium,  a  special  examination 
of  that  person  may  be  made  ;  and,  if  the  supposed  medium 
has  left  the  house,  he  should  be  traced,  so  as  not  to  lose 
sight  of  him. 

Very  frequently  the  people  of  the  house  or  family  will 
show  great  fright  and  agitation  at  the  phenomena  occurring 
around  them.  The  investigator  will  then  make  it  his  duty 
to  reassure  them,  to  tell  them  that  though  the  phenomena 


558  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

may  be  exceptional  they  are  natural ;  to  explain  them  to 
them,  as  far  as  they  are  able  to  understand.  If  the 
medium  has  left  the  house,  they  can  be  told  that  the 
phenomena  will  probably  not  occur  again. 

In  case  the  medium  has  not  left  the  house,  or  if  he  has 
not  been  recognised,  the  inhabitants  should  be  reassured 
as  to  the  innocent  character  of  the  phenomena,  and  re- 
quested to  inform  the  investigator  without  delay  if  the 
phenomena  occur  again.  They  will  make  no  difficulty 
when  they  are  made  to  understand  that  it  will  be  easy 
by  observing  the  phenomena  at  the  moment  of  their 
manifestation  to  discover  the  medium,  and  to  put  an  end 
to  them  by  summary  removal  of  the  cause. 

(6)  Persistent  'phenomena.  —  The  first  care  of  the 
observer  should  be  to  verify  the  phenomena  themselves 
at  the  time  of  their  production. 

First  of  all,  it  must  be  observed  that  it  is  infinitely 
preferable  to  have,  at  least,  two  persons  to  verify  these 
phenomena ;  in  fact,  whilst  the  attention  of  one  observer 
is  drawn  to  one  point,  it  is  necessary  that  the  persons 
present,  and  often  other  parts  of  the  room,  should  be  at 
the  same  time  watched  by  another  observer. 

There  are  some  useful  processes  to  employ  for  the 
observation  of  these  phenomena.  Granting  that  some  of 
them  often  happen  in  the  dark,  or,  at  least,  in  a  dim  light, 
each  investigator  ought  to  be  provided  with  one  or  two 
small  pocket  electric  lamps,  giving  a  light  at  any  moment, 
and  sometimes  enabling  him  to  see  the  phenomenon  at  the 
very  time  of  its  production  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
detect  the  attitude  of  the  persons  present  when  the 
phenomenon  is  manifested. 

In  the  second  place,  photography  ought  to  be  made  use 
of.  Photography  offers  advantages  which  differ  somewhat 
from  those  of  the  electric  light.  With  the  instantaneous 
light  the  eye  perceives  immediately  and  simultaneously  a 
number  of  objects  which  may  not  be  within  the  range  of 
the  camera.  On  the  other  hand,  the  photographic  plate 
will  preserve  for  an  indefinite  period  the  exact  picture  of 
all  the  objects  which  have  been  found  within  its  range. 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         559 

It  will  therefore  be  useful  to  employ  both  processes  and  to 
obtain  as  many  photographic  proofs  as  possible.  This  can 
be  done  by  employing  as  many  cameras  as  possible  point- 
ing in  different  directions,  and  always,  be  it  understood,  by 
means  of  an  instantaneous  flash-light. 

In  the  third  place,  it  will  be  useful  to  employ  also  for  the 
verification  of  the  phenomena,  various  other  mechanical 
processes  which  will  be  suggested  to  the  investigators  by 
the  circumstances  and  arrangement  of  the  place.  A  port- 
able electric  bell  will  often  be  useful  by  allowing  the 
ai:rangement  of  contacts  to  give  warning  of  the  displace- 
ment of  certain  objects. 

After  having  thus  verified  the  phenomena,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  notice  the  conditions  in  which  they  are  produced. 

Conditions  of  place. — These  include  careful  examina- 
tion and  an  exact  description  of  the  house,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  apartment ;  photographs  should  be  taken 
of  both. 

Conditions  of  time. — Note  the  hour  of  the  day  or 
night  when  the  phenomena  usually  occur  and  the  time  of 
their  greatest  intensity ;  also  the  exact  duration  of  the 
various  phenomena  observed. 

Physical  conditions. — Light  or  darkness,  temperature, 
atmospheric  conditions,  which  seem  to  favour  the  pro- 
duction of  the  phenomena. 

We  must  then  pass  to  the  study  of  the  cause  of  the 
phenomena.  This  cause  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  force. 
We  shall  try,  according  to  the  observations  made  and  the 
principles  of  mechanics,  to  determine  its  seat,  direction, 
and  intensity. 

As  in  the  first  case,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  methodical 
examination  of  all  the  persons  in  the  house  and  all  those 
who  have  been  present  at  the  manifestations.  Among  those 
persons  we  must  note  those  who  have  always  been  present 
when  the  phenomena  are  produced,  and  seek  to  ascertain 
if  there  are  any  in  whose  presence  they  occurred  with 
greater  intensity. 

Having,  by  this  successive  analysis,  selected  a  small 
number  of  subjects,  we  must  endeavour,  if  it  is  possible,  to 


560  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

experimentally  eliminate  each  subject  by  removing  them 
in  succession  from  the  place  where  the  phenomena  occur. 
It  will  thus  be  quite  easy  to  determine  which  person's 
presence  is  necessary  for  their  production. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  the  investigators  should 
let  nothing  be  known  to  the  inmates  of  the  family  as  to 
the  result  of  their  investigations  concerning  the  persons  or 
their  suspicion  as  to  the  one  who  is  the  cause,  if  they 
think  they  have  discovered  him.  They  should  continue 
their  observations,  watching  the  supposed  medium  very 
carefully,  but  without  any  one  being  able  to  perceive  this. 

When  the  investigators  have  discovered  the  medium, 
they  must  first  of  all  express  the  hope  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  house  that  the  phenomena  will  cease ;  then  under 
some  pretext  they  will  remove  the  medium.  If  every- 
thing becomes  orderly  again,  they  will  have  proof  that 
they  have  not  been  mistaken. 

When  they  arrive  at  this  point,  the  role  of  the  investi- 
gators is  not  yet  ended.  In  removing  the  medium  they 
will  be  careful  not  to  lose  trace  of  him,  because  they  will 
need  to  examine  him  further. 

The  medium  may  be  absolutely  unconscious  of  being 
one,  and  unaware  that  he  is  the  active  agent  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  phenomena ;  but  if  he  knows  that  the 
phenomena  have  ceased  in  his  absence,  especially  if  similar 
phenomena  have  occurred  at  the  place  to  which  he  has 
removed  since  his  arrival,  he  may  become  aware  of  the 
relation  existing  between  his  presence  and  the  manifesta- 
tions. 

The  duty  of  the  investigators  then  is  to  remove  his 
fears  ;  they  should  make  him  understand  that  these 
manifestations  depend  upon  a  special  condition  which  is 
temporary.  They  should  endeavour  to  get  him  to  entrust 
himself  to  a  committee  of  serious  experimenters  in  whom  he 
can  place  complete  confidence,  who  will  experiment  with 
him  as  to  these  mediumistic  faculties.  They  should  show 
that  this  methodical  experimentation  will  put  an  end  to 
the  spontaneous  manifestations  of  an  abnormal  power; 
the  experiment  will  demonstrate,  in  fact,  that  the  mediums, 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         561 

who  exercise  their  faculties  in  a  scientific  group,  are  no 
longer  subject  to  the  spontaneous  and  incoherent  manifes- 
tations we  are  now  studying. 

The  dominant  characteristics  of  spontaneous  phenomena 
is  that  they  cannot  be  produced  at  one's  pleasure.  At  the 
most  we  can  place  ourselves  in  conditions  which  appear 
the  most  favourable  for  their  production ;  it  is  necessary 
then  to  wait  with  an  imperturbable  patience.  If  we  try  to 
do  more,  to  hasten  them  or  make  them  appear  by  any 
excitation  whatever/they  will  be  infallibly  impaired,  trans- 
formed in  some  manner,  and  the  investigator  will  lose  the 
greatest  part  of  their  value.  The  experimenter  ought  here 
to  limit  his  part  to  that  of  an  observer ;  but  he  ought  to 
make  use  of  all  the  qualities  we  have  already  recognised 
as  indispensable  in  those  who  would  devote  themselves  to 
these  researches.  He  ought  to  employ  all  his  sagacity, 
experience,  and  scientific  knowledge  in  careful  observa- 
tion. He  ought  not  let  pass  any  accessory  circumstances, 
which  to  the  unlearned  may  appear  insignificant,  but 
which  are  capable  of  enlightening  him  as  to  the  value, 
origin,  nature,  or  consequences  of  the  phenomenon 
observed. 

When  the  phenomena  occur  unknown  to  the  subject 
through  whom  they  are  produced,  this  subject,  the  generat- 
ing agent  of  the  force  which  gives  rise  to  the  phenomena, 
may  pass  unperceived,  and,  for  the  time  being,  remain 
unloiown  to  the  witnesses,  and  even  to  the  experimenters. 

In  facts  of  this  category,  as  regards  the  phenomenon, 
the  experimenter  has  no  action  to  exert  on  it.  But  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  if  he  cannot  provoke  it 
voluntarily,  he  can  involuntarily  cause  it  to  cease  or 
impede  its  progress.  The  first  thing,  therefore,  is  to 
observe  the  phenomenon  in  itself,  in  its  slightest  details, 
which  ought  to  be  noted  with  rigorous  exactitude.  In  the 
course  of  this  observation  the  experimenter  should  take 
every  care  not  to  impede  the  progress  of  the  phenomenon, 
and  also  not  to  run  the  risk  of  modifying  it,  which  might 
happen,  even  involuntarily.  The  danger  of  exercising 
an  involuntary  influence  on  the  phenomenon  is  all   the 

2  N 


562  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

more  to  be  feared  here,  because  the  experimenter  does  not 
yet  know  the  cause  or  the  active  subject,  and  because  if  he 
does  not  exercise  extreme  prudence  and  circumspection 
he  may  influence  one  or  the  other. 

In  order  to  avoid  this  difficulty  he  must  observe  in 
silence,  without  departing  from  the  utmost  impassiveness, 
whatever  may  be  the  surprises  he  may  experience  in  the 
course  of  this  observation.  It  is  evidently  necessary  also 
to  demand  from  all  those  present,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
same  silence  and  the  same  calmness.  It  is,  above  all, 
necessary  to  forbid,  during  the  whole  time  of  the  experi- 
ment, all  remarks  as  to  the  phenomenon  or  its  progress, 
as  well  as  all  expressions  of  opinion  concerning  its  probable 
cause  or  consequences. 

Whilst  considering  the  phenomenon  in  itself,  the 
experimenter  will  apply  himself  to  the  most  careful 
observation  of  all  the  persons  present,  but  taking  care 
that  this  constant  and  rigorous  surveillance  is  concealed, 
and  especially  that  it  is  unperceived  by  the  persons  to 
whom  it  is  directed.  The  experimenter  ought  thus  to  be 
able  to  discover  the  principal  factor  in  the  production  of 
the  phenomenon,  the  agent  who  produces  it,  the  subject 
who  brings  into  play  or  transmits  the  forces  necessary  for 
its  manifestation. 

There  may  be  only  one  subject,  and  he  may  be  some 
person  present,  but  the  fact  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  that 
the  symptoms  of  his  condition  as  the  active  subject  may 
be  absolutely  latent.  In  other  cases  the  phenomenon 
may  be  produced  by  the  influence  of  the  forces  collected 
from  several  subjects  present ;  it  may  be  that  these  various 
subjects  take  an  almost  equal  part  in  the  manifestation 
by  joining  forces  of  the  same  nature  and  the  same  intensity; 
it  may  be  that  one  of  those  present,  possessing  in  himself  a 
force  superior  to  that  of  the  others,  plays  the  part  of  principal 
active  subject  and  draws  from  the  energy  of  the  persons 
around  powers  which  he  lacks  and  thereby  becomes  the 
sole  director  of  the  progress  of  the  phenomenon. 

It  may  also  happen  that  the  subject  directing  the 
manifestation  may  be  more  or  less  distant.     One  of  the 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         563 

subjects  present  then  collects  around  him  all  the  forces 
necessary  for  the  action,  but  unconsciously  allows  himself 
to  be  directed  by  the  impulse  of  what  comes  to  him  from 
without. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  experimenter  himself 
may  be  at  the  same  time  the  active  subject,  and  that 
entirely  unconsciously.  This  may  be  the  case  in  two 
ways,  which  we  shall  indicate;  either  because  he  alone 
produces  and  directs  the  force  which  gives  rise  to  the 
phenomenon,  or  because  he  assembles  and  directs  the 
scattered  forces  emitted  by  those  present. 

The  experimenter  may,  in  this  case  also,  come  to  dis- 
cover that  he  is  himself  the  active  subject,  but  he  can 
only  arrive  at  this  deduction  by  way  of  elimination,  and 
consequently  generally  after  long  observations.  This 
search  for  the  active  subject,  which  brings  the  psychic 
forces  into  play,  is  very  important  in  the  study  of  the.se 
phenomena,  because,  once  the  subject  has  been  really 
ascertained,  the  study  of  the  phenomenon  itself  becomes 
much  more  easy  and  more  precise.  The  rational  and 
scientific  method  will  therefore  be  to  seek  first  of  all  to 
discover  this  subject,  without  neglecting,  be  it  understood, 
the  observation  of  the  events  which  may  occur  in  the 
course  of  this  research. 

Whoever  may  be  the  active  subject,  whether  he  be 
known  or  is  still  unknown,  and  whatever  may  be  his 
action,  more  or  less  direct,  upon  the  phenomena,  when 
we  are  observing  spontaneous  phenomena,  the  first  rule 
is  not  to  disturb  them,  in  order  to  observe  them  in  all 
their  completeness.  We  must,  therefore,  take  account  of 
the  ease  with  which  these  phenomena  may  be  impeded. 

The  investigators,  like  the  spectators,  may  act  directly 
or  indirectly  on  the  phenomena;  directly,  by  exercising 
an  action  diftering  from,  or  even  contrary  to,  that  of  the 
subject,  or  again,  by  acting  in  any  manner  on  the  subject ; 
this  action  may  have  the  effect  cither  of  modifying  his 
powers,  or  of  impressing  his  nervous  system,  or  of  divert- 
ing his  attention,  or  of  isolating  him  from  the  point  at 
which    the    phenomenon    is    manifested;    indirectly,    by 


564  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

acting  on  the  instrument  by  means  of  which  the  pheno- 
menon is  manifested,  or  by  interrupting  the  communication 
between  the  subject  and  the  instrument. 

The  effect  of  these  different  actions  may  be  manifested 
in  several  ways.  The  conditions  being  no  longer  favour- 
able for  their  production,  the  phenomenon  commenced 
may  be  interrupted,  or  may  become  more  and  more 
feeble  until  it  becomes  insignificant,  or  it  may  be  arrested 
suddenly.  If  the  phenomenon  has  not  yet  begun  to  mani- 
fest itself,  we  may  be  in  apparently  favourable  conditions, 
that  is  to  say,  identical  with  those  in  which  we  have 
already  observed  the  phenomenon,  but  we  wait  in  vain — 
nothing  happens. 

It  is  necessary  in  these  different  cases  to  verify  with 
the  most  rigorous  exactitude  the  prevailing  conditions. 
If  the  obstacle  proves  to  be  some  external  circumstances 
(heat,  light,  noise,  &c.)  which  are  within  our  control, 
it  must  be  remedied.  If  the  obstacle  comes  from  the 
action  of  a  spectator  or  the  subject,  it  is  sometimes  suffi- 
cient to  separate  them  from  each  other  as  far  as  the  room 
will  permit.  But  if  this  action  is  too  intense  or  too  much 
opposed  to  the  production  of  the  phenomena,  if,  as  some- 
times happens,  it  is  augmented  by  an  auto-suggestion  on 
the  part  of  the  subject,  it  may  become  necessary  to  com- 
pletely remove  the  person  Avho  forms  an  obstacle  to  the 
experiment. 

Hitherto  we  have  seen  how  an  operator  may,  by  in- 
experience or  overlooking  precautions,  prevent  the  pro- 
duction of  psychical  phenomena.  There  is  a  much 
greater  danger  to  avoid,  because  it  exposes  us  to  more 
unpleasant  consequences — that  is,  to  cause  the  pheno- 
mena to  deviate  from  their  normal  course  and  falsify  the 
results. 

When  experimenters  seek  in  vain  to  study  a  pheno- 
menon or  to  perform  an  experiment,  they  can  at  most 
only  lose  their  time,  and  yet  for  those  who  know  how 
to  observe,  experiments,  even  negative  ones,  always  give 
rise  to  very  instructive  observations;  but  if  it  happens 
that,  involuntarily  and  unconsciously,  we  modify  or  change 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         565 

a  phenomenon,  the  results  of  the  experiments  thus  falsified 
may  become  the  source  of  new  errors,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  begin  again  later  on  a  whole  series  of  similar  labours  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  origin  of  the  error  committed. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  we  may  arrive  at  false 
results  in  two  ways:  either  the  observation  is  erroneous 
from  the  commencement  and  may  not  rest  on  any  real 
foundation ;  or  a  real  phenomenon  had  been  observed  at 
the  beginning,  but  the  observer,  without  being  aware  of 
the  fact,  has  caused  it  to  deviate  from  its  normal  course 
during  the  manifestation.  A  phenomenon  real  in  its 
origin,  may  thus  have  been  artificially  changed  and  ap- 
pear altogether  different  from  what  it  would  have  been 
but  for  the  external  influence  which  is  exercised  upon  it. 
Such  an  observation  would  be  without  value,  and  the 
conclusions  we  should  draw  would  only  lead  us  into  error. 

We  shall  suppose  that  the  observer  knows  the  active 
subject ;  if  he  did  not  know  him  at  the  commencement 
of  the  observation  he  has  been  able  to  discover  him.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  certain  cases  the  subject  is 
himself  ignorant  of  the  part  he  plays  in  the  production  of 
the  phenomena.  Under  these  circumstances  he  must  not 
be  informed  of  the  influence  he  exercises ;  it  is  better  to 
let  him  think  that  the  phenomenon  is  the  result  of  a 
collective  action,  and  that  he  does  not  play  a  prepon- 
derant part.  Without  making  the  active  subject  kno^vn 
or  bringing  him  into  prominence,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
observer  from  this  time  on  to  keep  his  attention  fixed  on 
him  in  a  very  special  manner. 


Fraud  in  Psychical  Experiments 

It  is  necessary  to  have  constantly  before  the  mind  the 
possibility  of  fraud.  Considered  in  itself  fraud  may  be 
complete  or  partial. 

Complete  fraud  extends  to  a  whole  series  of  experi- 
ments, to  an  entire  seance.  There  may  be  at  first  sight 
the  appearance  of  real  phenomena,  but  if  we  examine 
them  closely,  and  if  we  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  we 


566  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

perceive  that  there  is  nothing  but  iikision,  that  they  are 
imitated  or  simulated.  It  is  evident  that  if  we  are  deal- 
ing with  a  subject  incapable  of  producing  the  slightest 
psychical  phenomenon,  and  who  wishes  to  deceive  the 
observers,  we  can  only  have  a  series  of  simulations  and 
a  totally  fraudulent  seance.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to 
believe  that  the  proof  of  total  fraud  necessarily  implies 
that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  subject  of  that  class.  It 
may  very  well  be  that  even  with  a  good  subject,  capable 
of  producing  highly  interesting  phenomena,  after  a  long 
wait  for  manifestations,  which,  from  one  cause  or  another, 
cannot  be  produced,  we  get  only  simulated  phenomena. 

With  regard  to  partial  fraud,  it  is  always  a  real  medium 
in  whose  presence  we  observe  it,  because  it  is  produced  in 
a  seance  where  real  phenomena  have  already  been  obtained. 
Either  the  real  phenomena  cease  to  occur  at  a  certam  time, 
and  are  replaced  by  imitated  phenomena,  or  else  wo  obtain 
at  will  a  whole  category  of  real  phenomena ;  but  when  we 
wish  to  go  forward  to  more  complicated  manifestations,  or 
simply  pass  on  to  different  phenomena,  which  in  the  cir- 
cumstances are  more  difficult  to  obtain,  we  only  obtain, 
instead  of  these,  simulated  phenomena  which  are  some- 
times mixed  with  authentic  ones. 

Considered  from  the  subject's  point  of  view,  fraud 
may  be : — 

(1)  Conscious  and  voluntary; 

(2)  Conscious  and  involuntary ; 

(3)  Totally  unconscious. 

Conscious  and  voluntary  fraud  does  not  give  occasion 
for  any  useful  scientific  observation.  It  can  only  teach 
the  experimenters  the  better  to  put  themselves  on  guard 
against  the  unscrupulous  subjects  who  might  still  seek 
to  lead  them  into  error.  Subjects  who  make  a  profession 
of  lending  themselves  to  psychical  experiments,  or  who 
derive  profit  from  their  reputation  and  from  seances  for 
which  they  are  solicited,  sometimes  deliberately  try  to 
deceive.  They  make  their  preparations  beforehand,  prac- 
tise the  imitation  of  certain  phenomena,  and  carefully 
hide  instruments,  more  or  less  rudimentary,  which  they 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         567 

use  with  great  dexterity,  such  as  imperceptible  threads, 
springs  or  wires,  by  means  of  which  they  sometimes  pro- 
duce a  great  ilUision.  Or  they  may  even  have  an  accom- 
plice who  assists  them  in  their  operations,  which  are  in  no 
way  scientific,  by  communicating  with  them  in  the  con- 
ventional manner.  Thus,  for  example,  a  thought-reader 
will  guess  the  most  complicated  figures,  words,  and  phrases 
proposed  by  the  spectators.  It  is  finally  discovered  that 
the  bandage  with  which  his  eyes  are  covered  allows  the 
subject  to  see  his  companion's  foot,  and  that  an  imper- 
ceptible movement  of  this  foot  indicates  to  him  the  figures 
or  the  letters  he  ought  to  name. 

When  it  is  only  a  question  of  experiments  made  by  a 
conjurer  on  the  stage,  the  matter  is  not  important,  because 
it  is  only  a  question  of  amusing  the  public,  and  the  operator 
is  performing  his  part  and  giving  an  illusion  accepted  as 
such  in  advance.  It  is  not  the  same  thing  when  he  gives 
a  serious  seance :  and  it  is  evident  that  subjects  who  thus 
lend  themselves  to  a  habitual  and  premeditated  fraud, 
ought  to  be  completely  excluded  from  all  scientific  ex- 
perimentation. 

By  the  side  of  these  premeditated  frauds,  got  up  by 
individuals  who  have  no  other  object  than  to  deceive,  we 
also  sometimes  observe  conscious,  and,  up  to  a  certain 
point,  voluntary  frauds  on  the  part  of  subjects  who,  under 
other  circumstances,  show  themselves  sincere  and  capable 
of  taking  part  in  scientific  experiments.  That  happens 
especially  when  a  subject  is  overworked,  when  he  is  asked 
to  make  experiments  which  are  repugnant  or  distasteful 
to  him,  or  again  when  evident  distrust  is  manifested  which 
wounds  his  susceptibilities  and  irritates  him.  These  sub- 
jects ought  not  to  be  completely  rejected,  for  they  may  be 
very  good,  but  we  should  act  towards  them  with  much 
skill  and  tact;  we  must  know  how  to  avoid  the  causes 
which  lead  them  to  simulation,  and,  in  every  case,  watch 
them  in  a  much  more  rigorous  manner  by  observing  the 
precautions  which  I  will  indicate  further  on. 

Conscious  and  involuntary  fraud,  as  well  as  totally 
unconscious   fraud,   comes   from    subjects   who   are   true 


568  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

mediums  and  who  have  real  aptitude  for  ps3'chical  ex- 
periments. These  two  classes  of  fraud  differ  only  in 
this,  that  in  the  first  the  subject  is  in  a  less  profound 
mediumistic  state,  which  enables  him  to  know  all  that 
is  happening  around  him  and  what  he  himself  accom- 
plishes. It  is  clear  that  we  have  here  a  mixed  and 
transitory  condition,  such  as  is  but  seldom  observed.  In 
every  case,  the  characteristics  of  conscious  and  involuntary 
fraud  are  the  same  as  those  of  unconscious  fraud  and  Ave 
can  study  them  together. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  psycho- physiology 
the  subject  is  a  very  complicated  being,  with  whom  we 
cannot  obtain  a  given  phenomenon  at  Avill,  even  if  it  has 
already  been  obtained  in  similar  conditions.  We  have 
already  seen  that  we  have  to  take  into  account  a  great 
number  of  factors,  and  in  the  first  place  the  psychical 
state  of  the  subject  at  the  moment,  which  may  be  in- 
fluenced by  causes  of  which  we  have  been  able  to  discover 
and  study  a  certain  number,  but  of  which  others  have 
completely  escaped  us. 

The  subject  is  not  always  master  of  his  impressions ; 
he  cannot  go  at  will  into  any  physical  or  moral  state 
asked  for.  And  further,  he  is  often  ignorant  himself  as 
to  what  conditions  of  his  psychical  being  are  most  favour- 
able for  obtaining  the  results  expected. 

These  conditions,  for  the  most  part,  are  produced  in 
him  unawares,  without  his  seeking  them  :  whilst  his  efforts, 
on  the  contrary,  may  raise  an  obstacle  to  them. 

The  mere  fact  of  his  submitting  to  experiments  may 
lead  the  sensitive,  in  spite  of  himself,  and  without  his 
knowledge,  to  simulate  a  phenomenon  which  is  not  spon- 
taneously produced,  or  to  intensify  it. 

In  mediumistic  states  hypera3Sthesia  is  usually  observed 
which  may  occur  with  regard  to  all  the  possible  sensations, 
singly  or  together,  and  may  make  certain  impressions 
unpleasant  or  even  painful.  The  subject,  under  this  first 
influence,  often  executes  involuntarily  some  disordered 
movements  without  even  suspecting  it.  Later  on,  under 
certain  influences,  he  is  dominated  by  the  thought  of  the 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         569 

phenomenon  asked  of  him,  and  these  movements  follow 
the  motor  images  of  his  thought.  According  to  psycho- 
logical laws,  all  thought  is  accompanied  by  a  muscular 
action:  in  a  general  way  the  muscles  begin  to  contract, 
in  accordance  with  the  different  movements  necessary  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  act  thought  of:  the  result  is 
that  the  hand  always  moves  automatically  in  the  direction 
of  our  thoughts.  This  action  is  reflex,  instantaneous,  and 
executed  in  a  more  or  less  complete  manner,  if  the  subject 
does  not  oppose  it  by  an  act  of  the  will,  or  if  there  is 
no  mechanical  obstacle  in  the  way.  Even  in  this  latter 
case  the  attempt  at  contraction  at  least  exists  in  the 
different  muscles. 

We  can  observe  it  by  feeling  or  we  can  even  register  it 
with  certain  apparatus,  and  the  subject  is  aware  of  it  by  his 
muscular  sense.  The  result  is  that  in  psychical  experi- 
ments, in  which  the  thought  and  will  of  the  subject 
ought  to  be  directed  to,  or  be  influenced  by,  an  object 
or  a  person,  sympathetic  movements  often  if  not  always 
accompany  the  phenomenon. 

There  is  still  another  cause  for  the  movements  observed 
in  the  subject  when  we  expect  a  phenomenon  or  see  it 
produced.  It  seems  to  be  proved  that  most  frequently 
the  effort  made  by  a  subject  in  the  active  mediumistic 
state  in  order  to  produce  a  dynamic  phenomenon  is 
painful,  or,  at  least,  difficult.  First  of  all  there  is  a 
cutaneous  hypercesthesia,  then  a  pain  which  accompanies 
the  excessive  expenditure  of  the  nervous  forces  and  which 
is  proportionate  to  the  special  effort  demanded.  It  is 
therefore  quite  natural  that  the  subject,  especially  in  the 
states  in  which  he  is  unconscious  and  powerless  to  control 
his  automatic  movements,  seeks  to  avoid  pain  and  to 
effect  the  physical  action  by  means  which  are  less  painful 
to  him. 

In  the  mediumistic  experiments  on  the  externalisation 
of  motricity,  the  force  of  the  medium  is  often  in  part 
borrowed  from  the  bystanders :  this  decomposition  of  the 
force  occasions  also  movements  which  the  observers  are, 
in  most  cases,  unable  to  explain. 


570  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

Unconscious  fraud  may  be  clumsy  or  artless,  but  as 
a  rule  it  closely  resembles  real  phenomena;  it  seems  to 
be  skilful  and  well  arranged  and  premeditated.  We 
know  that  generally  instinctive  actions  are  performed 
with  remarkable  precision  and  cleverness ;  they  are  more 
perfect  in  their  execution  than  voluntary  actions  :  uncon- 
scious fraud  partakes  of  all  these  qualities.  Unconscious 
fraud  does  not  leave  any  recollection,  when  the  subject 
has  returned  to  his  normal  state,  of  the  fraudulent  means 
employed ;  but  he  can  often  remember  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  these  means,  just  as  he  may  also  have  forgotten 
the  effect  produced,  as  well  as  the  mechanism  which  pro- 
duced it. 

We  cannot  leave  this  question  of  fraud  without  speak- 
ing of  one  very  frequent  cause  of  fraud,  although  its 
mechanism  seems  at  first  sight  very  complicated — namely, 
fraud  which  results  from  suggestions.  We  must  re- 
member, in  the  first  place,  that  the  mediums  or  subjects 
placed  by  any  means  in  a  mediumistic  state  are  very 
sensitive  to  mental  suggestion.  The  thoughts  and  will 
of  the  persons  who  take  part  in  the  experiment  exercise 
on  the  subject  an  influence  of  which  he  is  not  conscious, 
but  which  is  none  the  less  considerable. 

Now,  the  spectators  and  witnesses  of  a  psychical  ex- 
periment may  act  thus  on  the  subject  in  several  different 
ways.  Persons  are  sometimes  admitted  to  these  experi- 
ments who  have  no  knowledge  of  such  phenomena. 
Often  they  bring  doubts  based  on  the  physical  laws  which 
they  know  and  which  they  believe  to  be  absolute,  and 
on  the  difficulty  of  admitting  anything  to  be  scientific 
which  is  outside  the  narrow  range  of  ancient  knowledge. 
This  doubt,  which  resolves  itself  into  a  conviction  of  the 
impossibility  of  carrying  out  the  experiment,  seems  to 
arouse  the  opposition  of  the  subject,  as  though  he  was 
personally  interested  in  convincing  the  spectators,  and 
was  thus  challenged  to  succeed.  The  subject  vaguely 
perceives  this  hostility,  which  distracts  his  attention  and 
takes  away  a  part  of  the  faculties  which  he  ought  to 
bring   into   play.      He   thus   finds   himself  directly  im- 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         571 

pelled  to  help  out,  by  fraudulent  means,  the  result  which 
is  expected. 

In  other  cases  the  suggestion  of  fraud  is  still  more 
direct.  Certain  persons,  while  desirous  of  being  present 
at  psychical  experiments,  experience  an  aversion  for  these 
phenomena  which  develops  into  actual  hostility.  These 
feelings  of  prejudice  are  sometimes  such  that  they  un- 
consciously lead  to  actual  bad  faith  in  the  observation 
of  the  experiments.  These  persons,  understanding  nothing 
of  the  nature  of  psychical  experiments,  use  every  means 
to  counteract  them.  They  are  often  more  insistent  than 
any  one  else  to  be  present  at  the  experiments;  all  the 
same  it  is  sometimes  wrong  to  admit  them.  But  as  they 
are  convinced  that  these  phenomena  do  not  exist,  their 
secret  desire  is  always  to  catch  the  subjects  in  the  very 
act  of  trickery.  These  persons  think  of  all  the  possible 
means  that  can  be  employed  by  the  subject  to  introduce 
fraud  ipto  the  experiments,  and,  far  from  recognising  that 
the  subject  is  unconscious  and  seeking  to  prevent  him 
from  making  use  of  simulation,  they  make  it  easy  for  him 
and  induce  it  in  every  possible  manner.  These  experi- 
menters seem  to  rejoice  when  the  subject  has  fallen  into 
their  trap  and  simulates  a  phenomenon ;  they  do  not  take 
into  account  that  the  subject  is  unconscious  of  the  way  in 
which  the  phenomena  are  produced,  that  he  instinctively 
seeks  the  easiest  and  least  troublesome  means  of  attaining 
the  desired  end.  In  this  case  the  experimenters  alone  are 
responsible  for  the  fraud,  because  they  have  made  a  real 
mental  suggestion  to  the  subject  from  which  he  is  unable 
to  escape. 

These  considerations  on  the  manner  in  which  fraud 
is  produced,  and  on  the  part  which  the  subject  may  take 
in  it,  lead  us  to  deduce  the  line  of  conduct  which  the 
experimenter  ought  to  follow.  If  he  suspects  any  trickery 
whatever  at  any  part  of  the  experiment,  his  first  care 
ought  to  be  to  hide  his  impression  and  to  let  nothing 
be  seen  of  what  he  has  been  able  to  discover;  but  he 
should  redouble  his  attention  and  seek  first  of  all  to  decide 
in  what  category  of  fraud  he  can  place  it.    Then  he  should 


572  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

seek  by  all  possible  means  to  prevent  the  fraud  being 
produced,  but  always  indirectly,  in  order  not  to  disclose 
the  process  employed  by  the  subject.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten,  in  fact,  that  the  subject,  who  may  be  irrespon- 
sible, will  be  immediately  lost  for  experimental  purposes, 
even  if  he  is  a  good  subject,  from  the  simple  fact  that  he 
will  be  denounced  or  unmasked  when  making  use  of  some 
deception  of  slight  importance. 

There  are  many  ways  of  watching  the  subject  and  of 
making  it  impossible  for  him  to  employ  such  or  such 
fraudulent  means.  One  of  the  best  methods  is  to  pretend 
to  watch  particularly  one  of  the  experimenters  other  than 
the  subject.  We  then  have  perfect  liberty  for  taking 
precautions  which  render  the  suspected  fraud  impossible 
without  implicating  the  subject. 


Paeticular  Observation  of  the  Subjects  or  Mediums 
AND  Verification  of  the  Phenomena 

Now  that  the  experimenter  has  ascertained  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  subject  and  thus  eliminated  the  principal 
causes  of  error,  we  will  see  how  he  ought  to  pursue  his 
observations. 

The  subject  himself  must,  in  the  first  place,  be  specially 
studied  during  the  course  of  the  experiment. 

We  must  find  out  whether  his  will  comes  into  play 
in  the  production  of  the  phenomena.  This  question  can 
be  divided  into  two :  can  he  produce,  stop,  or  direct  them 
at  will  ?  Is  it  possible  for  him  to  vary  the  nature,  form, 
or  intensity  of  them  ? 

What  is  the  precise  condition  of  the  subject  during  the 
production  of  the  phenomena  ?  Is  he  in  a  hypnotic  state, 
an  active  or  passive  mediumistic  state,  or  in  a  mixed  state, 
and,  finally,  what  are  the  symptoms  presented  ? 

It  is  well  also  to  determine  the  degree  of  psychical 
force  which  the  subject  is  obliged  to  expend  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  phenomenon.  Does  he  only  utilise  his  own 
physical   or   psychical  forces,  or  does   he  seem   to  draAV 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         573 

them  in  part,  either  from  the  sitters  or  from  any  dynamic 
source  whatever  ? 

In  what  way  does  the  subject  bring  these  various  forces 
into  play  ?  Does  he  use  his  limbs  or  muscles,  or  his 
glance  to  direct  them  ?  How  does  he  communicate  them — 
immediately  or  mediately,  and,  in  the  latter  case,  what  are 
the  intermediaries  employed  ? 

We  do  not  find  many  subjects  capable  of  producing 
indifferently  various  kinds  of  psychical  phenomena.  Each 
subject  exhibits  special  faculties  which  are  personal  to 
him,  and  which  enable  him  to  produce  a  certain  pheno- 
menon. If  we  ask  him  to  perform  other  experiments  we 
shall  obtain  nothing,  or  only  some  insignificant  pheno- 
mena, even  with  a  subject  excellently  endowed  in  his  own 
speciality. 

We  do  indeed  sometimes  meet  with  subjects  capable 
of  carrying  on  several  different  classes  of  experiments, 
but  even  with  them  we  easily  recognise  their  special 
dominant  faculties. 

We  can  develop  by  exercise  the  faculties  which  sub- 
jects naturally  possess ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  laws  of  the  development  of  psychic  faculties  teach  us : 

1.  That  we  cannot  develop  several  different  faculties 
simultaneously  in  the  same  subject  without  detracting 
from  the  perfection  of  the  experiments ; 

2.  That  one  faculty,  when  specially  cultivated,  is  de- 
veloped to  the  detriment  of  others  ; 

3.  That  there  is,  consequently,  every  inducement  to 
cultivate  the  special  dominant  faculty  in  each  subject, 
by  which  we  shall  succeed  in  producing  much  more  im- 
portant phenomena,  and  more  complete  and  interesting 
experiments. 

We  conclude  from  all  this  that  it  is  very  important 
that  the  experimenter  should  seek  to  ascertain  as  quickly 
as  possible  the  special  dominant  faculty  of  the  subject 
with  whom  he  operates. 

The  experimenter  ought  not  to  confine  his  observation 
to  the  subject  only,  but  he  ought  carefully  to  note  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  experiment  and   the   concomitant 


574  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

phenomena.  We  have  seen,  in  the  course  of  this  study, 
the  influence  exercised  by  the  persons  who  surround  the 
subject,  and  the  physical  and  atmospherical  conditions. 

Taking  these  various  influences  in  the  order  of  their 
importance,  the  experimenter  will  therefore  now  have  to 
direct  his  attention  to  the  persons  who  take  part  in  the 
experiment  and  all  those  who  are  present. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  seance,  and  before 
even  beginning  the  experiments,  the  operator  should  by 
a  rapid  glance  make  a  summary  diagnosis  of  the  psycho- 
logical condition  of  the  persons  present,  aided  by  the 
mformation  which  he  has  been  able  to  gather  as  to  their 
antecedents  from  the  psychological  and  experimental  point 
of  view,  which  he  ought  never  to  neglect. 

Those  present  are  naturally  divided  into  two  categories : 
those  who  take  some  part  or  other  in  the  experiments,  and 
those  who  are  present  merely  as  spectators.  Both  ought  to 
be  carefully  observed.  It  is  necessary  also  to  note  carefully 
those  who  have  previously  been  in  relation  with  the  sub- 
ject ;  to  know  as  far  as  possible  Avhat  have  been  their 
mutual  relations ;  and  if  some  persons  have  already  been 
present  at  experiments  with  him,  what  observations  have 
been  made  with  regard  to  them. 

It  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  ascertain  the  physiological 
modifications  which  may  occur  in  the  condition  of  each 
person  in  particular ;  traces  of  fatigue  or  nervousness, 
tendency  to  sleep  ;  torpor,  and  sometimes  complete  sleep  ; 
unconscious  or  convulsive  movements ;  any  sensations 
whatever,  painful  or  unpleasant,  Avhich  may  be  perceived 
by  the  person  himself. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  note  the  influence  Avhich 
the  subject  may  exercise  on  these  different  phenomena,  and 
to  ascertain  if  there  exists  a  sort  of  parallelism  between 
the  states  through  which  the  subject  passes  and  those 
which  are  observed  in  some  other  person  present.  We 
know  that  the  subject  may  unconsciously  place  a  spectator 
in  the  passive  mediumistic  state ;  this  point  ought  never 
to  be  forgotten,  because  the  subject  may  directly  utilise 
by  himself,  or  indirectly,  the  new  faculties  which  are  thus 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         575 

developed  in  a  spectator,  who  becomes  in  consequence  a 
secondary  subject. 

Finally,  after  having  ended  the  experiments,  the  in- 
vestigator should  interrogate  the  persons  present,  and 
especially  those  who  seem  to  present  some  physiological 
modifications,  and  he  will  note  the  subjective  phenomena 
which  they  mention;  nervousness,  fatigue,  somnolence, 
&c.  In  the  case  of  certain  persons,  the  observation  of 
whom  is  of  particular  interest,  it  will  be  well,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  take,  before  and  after  the  seance,  the  condition 
of  their  forces  by  the  dynamometer  and  sthenometer. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  take  account  of  the  physical  and 
atmospheric  conditions  in  which  the  experiment  takes 
place,  because,  as  we  have  demonstrated  some  years  ago, 
these  conditions  exercise  an  influence  on  certain  pheno- 
mena. The  barometric  pressure,  the  temperature,  the 
general  condition  of  the  atmosphere  ought  to  be  taken, 
and  it  should  be  observed  whether  the  place  where  the 
experiment  takes  place  is  more  or  less  protected  from 
these  influences.  In  the  room  in  which  the  experiment 
takes  place,  we  should  note  the  temperature,  natural^  or 
artificial  light  (its  source,  intensity,  colour),  the  dimensions 
of  the  room,  its  shape,  and  the  principal  objects  in  it. 

The  seance  is  ended,  but  the  investigator's  duty  is  not 
finished.  He  ought  first,  in  concert  with  the  sitters, 
witnesses,  or  experimenters,  to  write  an  account  of  all 
that  has  happened,  and  which  can  be  confirmed  by  all. 
Then  he  will  assemble  separately  and  immediately  the 
observers  and  experimenters — that  is  to  say,  those  who 
have  the  necessary  knowledge  and  experience  in  this  class 
of  phenomena  to  be  able  to  appreciate  their  value  and 
importance. 

It  is  then  particularly  that  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  no  one  should,  under  any  pretext,  utter  any  observa- 
tion on  or  any  explanation  whatever  of  the  phenomena 
observed,  in  the  presence  of  the  subject  or  any  person  who 
may  have  been  an  active  agent.  When  these  diff'erent 
persons,  as  well  as  those  who  may  have  been  present  at 
the  experiments  as  witnesses  or  out  of  curiosity,  have 


576  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

withdrawn,  the  immediate  impressions  of  the  observers 
and  experimenters  must  be  collected  and  carefully 
recorded. 

Later,  that  is  to  say,  one  or  two  days  afterwards,  the 
experimenters  must  be  again  assembled,  and,  having  be- 
fore them  the  notes  taken  during  and  after  the  seance, 
they  should  discuss  certain  points,  and  try  as  far  as 
possible  to  interpret  the  phenomena  observed.  They 
should  always  endeavour  to  draw  practical  conclusions  as 
to  the  procedure  to  be  followed  in  subsequent  experi- 
ments, and,  comparing  the  phenomena  observed  with 
those  already  known,  they  should  at  least  classify  them 
with  scientific  method.  In  this  way  we  can  be  certain 
that  all  the  experiments,  of  whatever  kind,  will  always 
have  a  useful  bearing  on  science. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

METHOD  OF   EXPERIMENTATION— INDUCED 
PHENOMENA 

Experimentation  with  Induced  Phenomena 

In  the  second  part  of  this  study,  we  have  to  examine  the 
special  rules  which  ought  to  be  applied  to  experiments  in 
regard  to  the  different  psychical  phenomena  which  can  be 
induced.  Every  experiment  ought  to  have  for  its  end,  and 
for  its  result,  either  to  search  more  deeply  into  that  which 
is  already  known,  or  to  find  out  something  new.  An  ex- 
periment undertaken  merely  out  of  curiosity  does  not 
deserve  the  name  of  a  scientific  experiment. 

If  each  experimenter  were  to  consider  as  null  all  that 
has  been  done  before  him  and  recommence  on  his  own 
account  the  work  of  his  predecessors,  no  scientific  progress 
would  be  possible.  The  first  experiments  made  in  any 
line  whatever  ought  to  serve  as  bases  for  subsequent  ex- 
periments, not  that  these  latter  should  be  only  servile 
imitations  of  them,  but  the  results  acquired,  the  deduc- 
tions made,  even  the  negative  results  and  the  lack  of 
success  enable  us  to  discover  the  rules  useful  for 
methodical  experimentation.  That  is  why  every  well- 
conducted  experiment  deserves  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, because  it  ought  to  contribute  to  the  progress 
of  human  knowledge. 

Psychical  phenomena  have  appeared  up  to  now  so 
various  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  submit  them  to 
methodical  experimentation.  However,  it  seems  to  us, 
from  the  whole  of  the  experiments  of  which  we  have 
collected  the  results  and  from  those  which  wc  have  made 
ourselves,  that  it  is  possible  to  divide  them,  from  the 

577  2  o 


578  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

experimental  point  of  view,  into  four  groups  in  order  to 
facilitate  tlieir  study. 

We  will  therefore  examine  successively  how  the  ex- 
periments ought  to  be  conducted  for  the  study  of  the 
following  phenomena : — 

(1)  Mental  suggestion  and  transmission  of  thought; 

(2)  Lucidity ; 

(3)  Externalisation  of  sensibility ; 

(4)  Externalisation  of  force. 

We  must  repeat  that  this  is  only  a  purely  experi- 
mental division,  hence  eesentially  conventional ;  but  it 
has  in  our  eyes  this  advantage,  that  we  can  bring  the 
majority  of  psychical  phenomena,  which  it  is  possible 
to  induce  for  experiment,  into  one  or  other  of  these 
categories. 

Mental  Suggestion  and  Transmission  of  Thought 

We  must  clearly  distinguish,  first  of  all,  the  two  kinds 
of  experiments  which,  though  presenting  some  apparent 
resemblances,  are  absolutely  different  in  practice. 

In  mental  suggestion  the  experimenter  does  not 
transmit  to  the  subject  the  idea  of  the  act  to  be  accom- 
plished, the  subject  is  ignorant  during  a  great  part  of  the 
experiment  of  what  we  wish  to  lead  him  to  do.  If  he 
happens,  more  or  less  rapidly,  to  guess  the  object  of  the 
suggestion,  it  is  by  a  simple  association  of  ideas.  The 
experimenter  splits  up  the  act  to  be  accomplished  into 
a  series  of  partial  movements,  and  it  is  these  movements 
that  he  imposes  on  the  subject  successively,  as  though  he 
were  accomplishing  them  himself. 

In  order  to  walk,  for  example,  he  will  first  of  all 
incline  the  body  of  the  subject  to  the  side  to  which  he 
wishes  to  lead  him ;  then  ho  will  make  him  raise  his  leg, 
advance  his  foot  in  the  direction  desired,  and  so  on.  In 
order  to  make  him  avoid  obstacles,  he  will  make  him  turn 
or  swerve  to  the  right  or  left,  then  he  will  stop  him  when 
he  arrives  at  the  end. 

In  the  same  way,  if  he  is  required  to    take  up   an 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATIOxN         579 

article,  he  will  first  make  him  raise  his  forearm,  then 
carry  this  arm  in  the  desired  direction,  hold  out  his  hand 
and  take  hold  of  the  object. 

The  most  complicated  movements  and  acts  will  thus 
be  dissected  and  the  experimenter  will  successively  con- 
tract the  different  groups  of  muscles,  as  he  would  do 
himself  if  he  were  carrying  out  the  movement. 

For  the  transmission  of  thought,  the  mode  of  action 
and  mode  of  reception  are  alike  absolutely  different.  The 
phenomenon  of  thought-transmission  consists  essentially 
in  this,  that  an  idea  emitted  by  the  will  of  the  active 
subject,  whom  we  call  in  this  case  the  suggester,  is  per- 
ceived by  the  passive  or  receptive  subject,  who,  just  now, 
was  the  one  to  whom  the  suggestion  was  made. 

The  idea  may  be  absolutely  independent  of  any  act 
or  any  motor  phenomenon ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
may  also  involve  the  execution  of  a  more  or  less  complex 
action. 

In  this  case  the  transmission  of  thought  becomes  almost 
necessarily  more  or  less  multiple.  We  have,  first  of  all, 
the  idea  of  the  act  itself;  in  the  second  place,  there  is  the 
will  not  to  accomplish  or  to  accomplish  the  act.  The  trans- 
mission of  thought  may  be  stopped  there,  and  leave  the 
subject  to  choose  the  way  to  be  followed  in  order  to  arrive 
at  the  desired  end ;  but  we  may  also  go  further,  and,  with- 
out acting  on  the  motor  organs  of  the  subject,  suggest  to 
him  the  idea  of  the  means  by  which  he  will  realise  the 
act  demanded  of  him.  The  subject  will,  in  this  case, 
always  have  present  to  the  mind  the  definite  or  partial 
act  which  he  is  to  carry  out. 

From  all  that  we  have  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  in 
both  cases,  whether  of  mental  suggestion  or  of  the  trans- 
mission of  thought,  in  spite  of  mechanical  differences,  the 
suggester,  and  the  person  to  whom  the  suggestion  is  made, 
both  take  an  active  part  in  the  experiment. 

They  can,  therefore,  both  train  themselves  separately, 
and  it  is  even  necessary  for  the  perfect  success  of  the 
experiments  that  they  should  do  so. 

The  suggester  ought,  for  mental  suggestion,  to  accustom 


580  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

himself  to   split   up   any   act   into    partial,   well-defined 
movements. 

The  difficulty  consists  in  knowing  how  to  combine  the 
successive  impulses,  sufficiently  strongly,  in  a  single  direc- 
tion towards  the  desired  end.  This  can  be  accomplished 
by  a  little  training;  the  mechanism  consists,  first  of  all, 
in  energetically  fixing  in  the  mind  the  act  to  be  suggested, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  in  arranging  in  the  mind  the  plan 
of  the  different  movements  by  which  the  subject  must 
accomplish  it.  This  first  operation  the  suggestioner  accom- 
plishes in  himself,  without  entering  into  communication 
with  the  subject.  After  this  he  must  not  consider  the 
end,  except  in  a  general  way ;  he  must  voluntarily  make 
dominant  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  partial  impulsions,  by 
awaking  in  himself  a  vivid  mental  representation  of  the 
sensations  he  experiences  in  personally  accomplishing  the 
movements  suggested ;  in  order  to  do  this  he  must  know 
how  to  keep  away  all  other  thoughts  and  all  disturbing 
influences  from  without. 

For  thought-transmission  the  operator  ought  first  of 
all  to  apply  himself  to  gaining  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
his  subject.  The  subjects  must  be  divided  into  various 
categories,  according  to  which  of  the  senses  is,  by  nature 
or  training,  especially  refined  or  delicate.  Each,  in  fact, 
has  the  habit  of  giving  to  his  thought  a  form  which  corre- 
sponds to  one  of  the  three  senses  of  sight,  hearing,  or 
touch. 

The  representation  by  the  sight  of  an  idea  may  be 
made  in  three  different  ways,  so  that  we  can  distinguish 
three  categories  of  individuals  of  the  visual  type.  If  we 
take  as  example  the  idea  of  an  object,  or  of  an  animal  or 
vegetable,  some  will  represent  the  object  as  it  exists  in 
nature,  with  its  proper  forms,  dimensions,  and  colour. 
Others  will  make  a  mental  representation  of  the  image  of 
the  object :  one  will  see  simply  its  outline  and  form :  an 
artist  will  see  particularly  its  colour  and  shades;  the 
photographer  will  perceive  the  picture  in  the  special  tone 
of  a  photograph.  The  third  class  of  visuals,  including 
especially   educated   men   and  writers,  will   have   before 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         581 

their  eyes  the  written  or  printed. word  which  denotes  the 
object. 

With  the  last  named,  the  word  which  comes  first  to  the 
mind  of  the  subject  in  order  to  express  it  is  that  of  the 
language  which  he  employs  most  habitually ;  but  if  one 
of  these  subjects  is  very  familiar  with  several  languages, 
so  as  to  speak  them  fluently,  his  idea  will  take  body,  or,  if 
you  will,  he  will  think  in  the  language  he  was  using  at 
the  moment  the  idea  dawned  in  his  mind.  Thus  a  Latin 
scholar,  while  engaged  in  reading  a  Latin  text,  will  think 
in  Latin ;  a  Frenchman,  conversing  with  an  Englishman 
in  his  own  language,  will  feel  his  thought  manifesting 
under  the  form  of  the  English  word  which  represents  it. 

If  we  now  consider  the  auditory  category,  that  is  to 
say,  those  in  whom  the  sense  of  hearing  predominates  for 
the  representation  of  the  thought,  we  find  in  the  same 
way  that  they  must  be  divided  into  several  groups. 
Some  will  perceive,  for  a  certain  class  of  objects,  the  noise 
peculiar  to  the  object :  the  sound  of  the  voice  for  men, 
the  cry  for  animals,  the  resonance  for  objects.  The  most 
important  group  represents  the  idea  by  the  sound  of  the 
spoken  w^ord  which  expresses  it.  Here  we  should  make 
the  same  remark  on  the  subject  of  different  languages 
that  we  made  for  the  image  of  the  written  word,  the 
auditive  representation  of  the  thought  by  the  spoken 
word  following  exactly  the  same  rules. 

In  the  category  of  the  subjects  in  whom  the  sense  of 
touch  predominates,  we  find  a  still  more  limited  number 
of  individuals :  it  is  rarer,  in  fact,  to  identify  the  idea  with 
the  tactile  sensation  given  by  the  object.  Nevertheless 
we  must  refer  to  this  category  the  idea  of  movement 
which  is  inseparable  from  certain  objects,  and  the  sensa- 
tion of  which  may  be  the  first  one  awakened.  Finally, 
special  account  must  be  taken  of  the  motor  sensation 
which  accompanies  the  pronunciation  of  the  spoken 
word;  it  is  that  sensation  which  in  certain  subjects 
specially  represents  the  idea. 

It  is  indispensable,  for  any  one  who  wishes  to  succeed 
in  transmitting  his  thought,  not  only  to  know  all  these 


582  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

details,  but  to  practise  giving  body  to  his  thought  under 
all  these  forms.  In  fact,  in  making  experiments  of 
thought-transmission  with  a  subject,  the  first  important 
thing  will  be  to  know  to  which  of  the  difterent  groups 
mentioned  the  subject  belongs,  in  order  to  transmit  to 
him  the  thought  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  most  easily 
perceptible  to  him. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  experiment  will  be  much 
more  easily  carried  out  if  the  suggester  and  the  subject 
belong  to  the  same  category;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  may  sometimes  be  found  impossible  to  succeed  with 
the  experiment  if  the  subject  belongs  to  an  absolutely 
different  group  and  the  suggester  has  not  been  able  to 
give  this  identical  form  to  his  thought. 

It  also  follows  that  experiments  with  certain  subjects 
which  have  not  succeeded  with  one  operator,  may  be  quite 
successful  with  another,  without  there  being  any  trickery 
or  collusion  between  them. 

In  the  same  way  as  the  suggestioner  can,  as  we  have 
seen,  practise  mental  suggestion  and  thought-transmission, 
the  subject  may  also  train  himself  for  the  same  experi- 
ments. He  will  commence  by  accustoming  himself  to 
isolate  himself  from  all  his  surroundings,  freeing  himself 
from  all  disturbing  elements,  making,  so  to  speak,  a  void 
in  his  thoughts  so  that  nothing  may  hinder  the  pene- 
tration of  the  suggestion  into  his  mind.  Then  he  will 
exercise  himself,  for  mental  suggestion,  in  splitting  up 
actions  into  successive  movements,  and,  in  the  case  of  the 
transmission  of  thought,  in  cultivating  the  natural  faculty 
of  mental  representation  which  he  possesses. 

After  this  training,  which  each  of  the  experimenters 
can  undertake  separately,  they  will  practise  again  to- 
gether. Hero  we  must  recommend  the  suggester  to 
adopt  a  well-reasoned  method,  but  which  once  adopted 
will  remain  permanent.  It  is,  in  fact,  of  the  highest  im- 
portance to  act  always  in  the  same  manner  with  the  same 
subject. 

One  should  commence  with  exceedingly  simple  sug- 
gestions,  and    repeat    them    a    great   number   of  times ; 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         583 

varying  them,  and  gradually  making  them  more  com- 
plicated, but  only  in  proportion  as  the  more  simple  ones 
succeed  without  difficulty,  and  as  the  sensibility  of  the 
subject  is  developed. 

Finally,  in  every  case,  the  experimental  seance  must 
not  be  too  greatly  prolonged ;  when  the  suggester  or  the 
subject  becomes  fatigued,  the  experiments  must  be  sus- 
pended. In  the  same  way  if,  for  any  cause,  it  is  seen 
that  either  of  the  operators  is  indisposed  and  that  the 
attempts  are  fatiguing  or  unsuccessful,  the  experiments 
should  be  stopped  and  resumed  on  another  occasion. 

Experiments  in  Lucidity 

The  phenomenon  of  lucidity  consists  essentially  in  a 
subject  having  knowledge  of  facts  which  are  outside  the 
range  of  his  normal  senses.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to 
separate  from  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity  those  effects 
of  apparent  lucidity  which  may  arise  from  transmission 
of  thought.  This  knowledge  may  apply  either  to  facts 
which  happened  some  long  time  since,  or  to  present 
events,  or  finally  to  events  only  destined  to  happen  in  the 
more  or  less  distant  future.  These  conditions  may  give 
a  very  considerable  interest  to  the  phenomenon,  but  they 
do  not  change  its  nature. 

There  are  two  ways  of  experimenting  on  lucidity  ;  the 
first  consists  in  experiments  known,  in  England  par- 
ticularly, under  the  name  of  visions  in  the  crystal.  The 
second  consists  in  researches  on  somnambulistic  lucidity 
with  a  hypnotic  subject. 

The  procedure  to  be  employed  and  the  rules  to  be 
followed  in  these  two  experiments  are  absolutely  different : 
we  shall  examine  them  successively. 

The  experiments  of  vision  in  the  crystal  are  simple, 
easy  to  carry  out,  within  the  reach  of  every  one ;  but  the 
results  are  also  much  less  important  and  of  less  interest. 

There  are,  first  of  all,  some  general  conditions  which 
concern  the  environment  of  the  subject.  The  place  in 
which  the  experiment  is  made  ought  to  be  as  quiet  and 


584  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

isolated  as  possible,  so  that  no  outside  noises  distract  the 
subject.  It  is  especially  necessary  to  avoid  any  sudden 
and  unexpected  noises  which  may  divert  his  attention. 

Only  a  small  number  of  persons  must  be  present,  and 
they  must  not  be  close  to  the  subject,  and,  above  all,  not 
in  front  of  him.  They  must  remain  absolutely  silent  and 
motionless. 

The  person  who  lends  himself  to  the  experiment  ought 
to  turn  his  back  to  the  light.  If  the  light  is  an  artificial 
one  it  must  be  placed  high  enough  for  the  rays  to  pass 
over  the  head  of  the  subject.  The  subject  should  be 
comfortably  seated  before  a  table  covered  by  preference 
with  a  dark-coloured  cloth,  and  on  the  table,  right  in  front 
of  him,  should  be  placed  the  object  which  is  to  serve  as 
a  mirror. 

A  number  of  different  objects  may  be  employed — a 
glass  filled  with  water,  a  carafe.  The  English  have  in- 
vented a  small  apparatus  which  is  very  convenient  for 
this  experiment;  it  consists  of  a  very  transparent  glass 
ball  with  no  defect ;  it  is  generally  of  the  size  of  a  small 
orange,  and  it  is  placed  on  a  small  support  made  of  black 
wood.  The  subject  should  look  very  attentively  at  the 
centre  of  the  object,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  wait,  motion- 
less, and  in  silence.  At  first  he  Avill  see  on  the  brilliant 
surface  the  reflection  of  the  surrounding  objects.  He 
must  not  keep  his  eyes  on  these,  but  fix  them  on  the 
centre  of  the  globe.  This  fixity  of  attention  on  a  brilliant 
object  ends  by  the  sight  becoming  fatigued  and  the  view 
is  disturbed.  It  is  then  that  the  imagination  is  brought 
into  play.  When  the  gazer  is  a  sensitive,  the  rainbow- 
coloured  rays  which  traverse  the  transparent  ball  soon 
take  an  appearance  of  clouds  of  ditferent  colours,  and  as 
the  least  movement  changes  the  direction  of  the  rays 
which  come  to  the  eyes,  these  clouds  seem  to  be  animated 
with  various  movements.  At  the  same  time,  the  subject 
falls  into  a  superficial  hypnotic  state,  which  renders  him 
susceptible  to  hallucinations.  Then  he  begins  to  perceive 
in  the  transparent  globe  the  formation  of  various  pictures. 

These  pictures  appear  in  a  variable  manner  according 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION  585 

to  the  subjects.  More  frequently  they  are  first  of  all 
indefinite  forms  with  undecided  outlines,  then  a  part  of 
the  picture  begins  to  clear,  and  the  subject  recognises 
and  describes  each  part  successively.  He  seems  to  follow 
the  development  of  a  photographic  plate.  When  the 
image  is  developed  in  this  way,  it  generally  remains  for 
some  time ;  the  subject  has  full  time  in  which  to  examine 
it,  to  recognise  it,  and  describe  it  in  the  slightest  details. 
Then  it  is  effaced  a  little  at  a  time  and  slowly :  the 
subject  remains  for  a  while  without  observing  anything, 
then  another  picture  is  formed  in  the  same  way. 

With  other  subjects  the  appearance  of  the  pictures 
forms  in  an  altogether  different  way.  In  the  centre  of 
a  cloud  that  at  first  seems  to  fill  the  transparent  globe, 
there  appears  suddenly  a  form  to  which  they  at  once 
find  a  resemblance.  These  visions  are  most  frequently 
partial,  and  less  complete  than  the  preceding :  the  subject 
describes  a  face  or  a  head  of  a  man  or  an  animal,  some- 
times a  landscape,  but  the  rapidity  with  which  the  pictures 
succeed  each  other  prevents  them  from  completely  de- 
veloping, and  does  not  allow  the  subject  to  specify  the 
details. 

All  these  pictures  are  evidently  only  a  play  of  the 
subject's  imagination,  which  creates  an  hallucination  out 
of  nothing.  Nevertheless,  there  are  in  this  vision  two 
mechanisms  which  must  be  clearly  distinguished.  The 
transparent  globe  receives  and  reflects  the  picture,  but 
the  refraction  distorts  it.  When  it  is  this  irregular  image 
that  is  utilised  by  the  subject  in  order  to  form  the  vision, 
a  consequent  hallucination  may  still  be  produced,  it  is 
true,  but  the  phenomenon  presents  much  less  interest. 
In  the  second  process  of  which  we  have  spoken,  a  real 
hallucination  is,  on  the  contrary,  immediately  formed. 
Setting  aside  the  reflected  pictures,  the  subject's  sight 
is  fatigued  and  disturbed  by  the  brilHant  surface;  then 
this  surface  combined  with  the  dark  liackground  seen 
transparently  forms  a  cloud;  then  as  the  mind  is  con- 
centrated on  this  fixed  point,  not  presenting  any  regular 
outline,  the  hallucination  is  produced. 


586  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

With  regard  to  the  vakie  of  these  haUucmations,  it 
must  be  recognised  that  most  frequently  they  are  solely 
composed  of  reminiscences  —  that  is  to  say,  of  images 
drawn  from  the  visual  memory  of  the  subject.  Thus  it 
is  that  a  subject  will  recognise  a  site,  a  monument,  an 
object  which  he  may  have  seen  in  his  travels,  or  else 
a  landscape,  a  house,  the  aspect  of  which  was  familiar 
to  him  in  his  childhood ;  or  it  may  be  a  picture  or  an 
engraving  which  had  caught  his  eye  a  short  time 
previously. 

All  this,  we  see,  is  quite  insignificant,  and  is  not  worth 
stopping  to  consider.  The  phenomenon  only  becomes 
interesting  when  a  telepathic  hallucination  occurs — that 
is  to  say,  one  which  originates  in  a  mental  transmission, 
coming  from  a  person  present  or  absent,  and  especially 
when  this  hallucination  is  due  to  a  faculty  of  lucidity 
which  is  revealed  in  the  subject.  These  cases  are  rare, 
it  must  be  admitted,  but  they  sometimes  present  them- 
selves ;  that  is  not  less  incontestable,  and  they  suffice  to 
draw  our  attention  to  this  class  of  experiment. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  subject  who  thus 
undergoes  an  hallucination,  and  especially  a  telepathic 
hallucination,  is  necessarily  brought  into  a  certain  state 
of  hypnosis,  usually  light,  it  is  true.  But  the  fact  must 
not  be  lost  sight  of  that  many  of  these  subjects  thus 
placed  before  a  brilliant  object,  on  which  they  fix  their 
gaze  attentively  for  some  time,  are  disposed  to  fall  into 
a  more  profound  hypnotic  state,  which  is  caused  by 
fascination.  Some  subjects  are  very  quickly  fascinated 
and  go  to  sleep  very  shortly  after  they  are  placed  in  front 
of  the  crystal.  Others  only  reach  the  hypnotic  sleep  after 
having  already  undergone  one  or  more  hallucinations. 

The  experimenter  ought  therefore  to  constantly  watch 
the  condition  of  the  subject ;  he  should  know  how  to 
direct  the  fascination  and  the  hypnotic  condition,  if  it 
is  produced,  in  the  most  useful  manner,  and  then  to  take 
all  the  usual  precautions  in  bringing  the  subject  back 
to  the  normal  state  when  the  experiment  is  terminated. 

This   precaution   taken   he   must   also   know  how  to 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         587 

direct  the  experiment,  in  order  to  give  it  the  importance 
it  ought  to  have,  and  to  draw  from  it  what  is  of  value. 
For  that  he  must,  after  placing  the  subject  before  the 
brilliant  object,  simply  indicate  to  him  what  he  ought 
to  do,  and  then  leave  him  motionless  and  silent,  taking 
care  that  nothing  occurs  to  disturb  him.  He  must  refrain 
from  questioning  him  at  this  time,  and  not  allow  any  one 
present  to  speak  to  him. 

The  subject  ought  to  describe  very  minutely  all  that 
he  observes,  first  before  the  formation  of  the  pictures,  and 
then  successively  their  progressive  development  and  their 
slightest  details.  At  this  time  only,  and  if  he  finds  that 
the  subject  gives  a  too  summary  description,  the  experi- 
menter may  question  him,  and  ask  him  to  specify  certain 
points.  Then,  as  the  pictures  appear  and  disappear,  he 
will  carefully  note,  without  adding  or  taking  away  any- 
thing, all  that  the  subject  may  say. 

The  experiment  ended,  the  experimenter  should  ques- 
tion the  subject  in  a  methodical  manner  on  the  different 
visions  he  has  seen.  First  he  ought  to  inquire  whether 
the  objects  seen  and  described  by  the  subject  had  been 
seen  by  him  shortly  before  the  experiment,  and  if  they 
were  present  to  his  memory  at  the  time.  But  the  pictures 
may  also  refer  to  more  distant  recollections,  to  his  impres- 
sions of  childhood.  The  subject  may  not  think  in  any 
way  of  these  things  at  the  time  of  the  experiment,  but 
the  sight  of  the  objects  may  immediately  recall  the 
remembrance.  There  is  in  that  case  an  evocation  of 
recollections  existing  in  the  sub-consciousness,  and  this 
in  itself  is  interesting. 

There  may  also  exist  certain  dissimilarities  between 
the  real  object  the  subject  has  remembered  and  the  pic- 
ture of  his  vision.  However,  the  similarity  is  sufficient 
for  him  not  to  have  any  doubt  that  the  picture  is  cer- 
tainly that  of  the  object  present  in  his  memory,  but  a 
play  of  the  imagination  has  superposed  several  recollec- 
tions and  made  an  incorrect  picture. 

Again,  the  subject  may  not  be  at  all  conscious  that 


588  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

the  object  which  Avas  seen  by  him  in  the  vision  had  been 
previously  known  to  him. 

In  this  case,  the  subject  must  be  given  time  to  collect 
his  thoughts,  and  assisted  in  searching  his  memory  and  in 
noting  also  the  doubts  and  uncertainties  that  may  come 
from  his  sub-consciousness. 

Finally,  if  it  seems  proved  that  the  object  of  vision  is 
not  in  the  recollections  of  the  subject,  all  those  present 
must  be  questioned  in  turn,  care  being  taken  to  follow 
exactly  the  same  method.  If  there  is  any  connection 
between  the  visions  of  the  subject  and  the  pictures  which 
are  in  the  memory  of  one  of  the  sitters,  it  ought  to  be 
carefully  noted  whether  these  pictures  were  actually  pre- 
sent in  his  thoughts;  or  if  the  recollection  had  been 
immediately  awakened  by  the  description  given  by  the 
subject ;  or  if  he  had  been  compelled  to  dig  and  search 
into  old  memories  to  find  the  partly  effaced  traces. 

But  if  we  do  not  find  either  in  the  memory  of  the 
subject  or  in  that  of  those  present  anything  in  connection 
with  the  visions  obtained,  we  must  specify  and  preserve 
with  the  greatest  care  the  exact  description.  In  this  case, 
again,  the  subject  and  witnesses  should  be  again  ques- 
tioned several  days  afterwards  and  with  the  notes  taken 
during  the  experiment.  It  will  sometimes  happen,  in 
fact,  that  only  after  a  certain  time  is  a  recollection  found 
that  exactly  fits  in  with  the  description  given  by  the 
subject.  I  have  also  known  a  subject  recognise  several 
days  after  the  experiment,  in  a  shop,  a  picture  of  which 
he  had  seen  the  vision  in  the  crystal.  He  did  not  at  all 
remember  having  seen  this  picture  previously,  but  he  had 
passed  the  same  shop  several  times  and  the  picture  might 
have  caught  his  eye  unconsciously. 

After  having  thus  rigorously  eliminated  the  most 
simple  phenomena  of  conscious  or  sub-conscious  memory, 
if  we  are  led  to  think  that  the  subject  has  really  had  a 
telepathic  hallucination,  Ave  must  turn  our  researches  and 
inquiry  toAvards  the  object  or  the  place  of  the  vision. 

Here,  again,  throe  cases  present  themselves;  if  the 
picture  seen  in  the  crystal  only  represents  an  inanimate 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         589 

scene,  we  must  confine  ourselves  to  verifying  the  j^^eater 
or  less  correctness  of  the  picture  or  the  scene  represented. 
If  we  find  some  divergence  between  the  objects  and  the 
description  which  has  been  given,  we  must  find  out  whether 
this  description  does  not  correspond  more  exactly  with  a 
previous  condition  of  the  places  described.  If  the  picture 
seen  in  the  crystal  represented  an  animated  scene  or  an 
event,  beside  the  question  of  exactitude  which  Avill  be  the 
subject  of  investigation  as  in  the  preceding  case,  there  is 
the  question  of  time,  which  may  very  considerably  affect 
the  importance  of  the  vision.  If  the  fact  has  happened 
exactly  at  the  time  when  the  vision  took  place,  we  may 
regard  it  in  the  same  manner  as  an  inanimate  picture  and 
its  authenticity  will  be  verified  in  exactly  the  same  way, 
without  giving  rise  to  any  other  special  observation.  In 
the  contrary  case,  the  observers  will  have  to  take  a  com- 
pletely different  line  of  conduct,  according  as  the  vision 
is  connected  with  a  past  or  a  future  event. 

If  the  event  is  past,  it  should  be  noted  whether  it  is 
recent  or  long  past,  and  particularly  if  it  could  in  any  way 
whatever  come  to  the  knowledge  either  of  the  medium 
himself  or  of  any  person  present  at  the  experiment. 

We  may  then,  while  admitting  the  possibility  of  other 
explanations,  interpret  it,  in  the  first  case,  as  a  pheno- 
menon due  to  the  sub-consciousness  of  the  subject ;  in 
the  second  case,  as  a  transmission  of  thought,  which 
may  itself  be  complicated  also  by  an  action  of  the  sub- 
consciousness. 

If,  in  the  case  of  a  past  event,  it  can  be  thoroughly 
proved  that  it  was  not  normally  known  either  to  the 
subject  or  to  any  one  present  at  the  vision,  we  must  try 
to  find  out  what  connection  there  has  been  between 
the  subject  and  the  various  persons  who  took  part  in 
the  scene  described ;  also,  if  it  is  possible,  we  should 
find  out  whether  one  of  the  actors  in  this  scene,  at  the 
moment  when  it  occurred,  thought  of  the  subject  or 
experienced  a  more  or  less  intense  feeling  with  regard 
to  him  (telepathy). 

If  the  scene  perceived  in  the  crystal  has  not  yet  taken 


590  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

place,  but  is  to  occur  later,  this  can  be  known  either  by 
indications  given  by  the  subject,  or  by  the  very  circum- 
stances described.  Two  cases  can  again  be  presented 
here;  either  the  subject  indicates  in  oneway  or  another 
the  time  when  the  event  seen  ought  to  take  place;  or 
he  may  simply  describe  what  he  sees,  without  assigning 
any  time  for  its  realisation.  In  both  cases  we  carefully 
record  in  writing,  word  for  word,  all  the  details  given 
by  the  subject.  Of  this  account  two  or  three  copies 
ought  to  be  made  immediately,  and  signed  by  every  one 
present  at  the  experiment.  Each  of  these  copies,  signed 
and  sealed  in  a  special  manner,  should  be  handed  to  a  per- 
son Avho  will  give  a  receipt  bearing  the  date  of  the  deposit. 
Then,  all  the  persons  who  have  been  present  at  the  experi- 
ment, including  the  subject,  should  pledge  themselves,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  preserve  silence  on  what  has  been  revealed 
to  them  by  the  vision,  and  particularly  not  to  say  any- 
thing about  it  to  persons  who  take  part  in  the  event 
forecasted  by  the  subject ;  all  this  for  the  purpose  of  avoid- 
ing suggestions  which  might  arise.  The  subsequent  pro- 
cedure will  vary  according  as  the  date  of  the  event  is 
fixed,  or  remains  indefinite.  In  the  first  case,  we  endea- 
vour to  enable  some  experimenters,  and  preferably  those 
who  have  been  present  at  the  experiment,  to  be  present 
at  the  realisation  of  the  vision,  in  order  that  they  may 
note  the  details  with  scientific  exactitude. 

In  the  second  case,  everything  possible  should  be  done 
in  order  to  secure  as  rigorous  a  verification  as  possible  when 
the  event  occurs.  After  this  has  been  done,  the  official 
report  of  the  experiment  should  be  opened  in  the  presence 
of  those  who  were  present  at  the  vision,  and  of  those  who 
were  witnesses  of  its  realisation. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  in  the  experiments  of  visions  in 
the  crystal,  we  succeed  sometimes  in  obtaining  real  pheno- 
mena of  lucidity  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  is 
rare.  The  phenomena  of  somnambulistic  lucidity  present 
similar  results,  but  the  progress  of  the  experiment  is 
absolutely  difterent. 

Hypnotic  lucidity  is  only  observed  in  the  somnam- 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         591 

bulistic  state,  and  only  in  the  third  degree  of  somnam- 
bulism, or  again  in  the  active  mediumistic  condition— that 
is  to  say,  in  all  cases,  in  a  deep  hypnotic  condition.  Most 
frequently  it  is  in  the  somnambulistic  state  that  we  meet 
with  this  phenomenon,  so  that  it  is  commonly  called 
somnambulistic  lucidity. 

It  results  from  this,  that  to  experiment  with  lucidity 
we  must  first  of  all  have  a  subject  capable  of  reaching  the 
third  degree  of  somnambulism.  Such  subjects  are  not 
frequently  met  with,  and  besides,  all  subjects  who  can  be 
put  into  a  state  of  deep  somnambulism  are  not  lucid. 

Lucidity  is  a  special  faculty,  personal  to  the  subject ; 
but  if  this  faculty  cannot  be  given  to  a  subject  who  does 
not  possess  it,  it  frequently  happens  that  a  really  lucid 
subject  shows  this  faculty  at  first  only  in  a  very  feeble 
degree,  and  possesses  it,  so  to  speak,  in  a  latent  state.  An 
observer,  experienced  in  psychical  studies,  will,  however, 
discover  it  in  him,  and  will  know  how  to  develop  it  by 
practice  based  on  methodical  and  scientific  training. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  ask  a  subject  at  once,  even 
though  he  showed  the  most  evident  disposition  towards 
lucidity,  to  produce  immediately  the  most  complete  ex- 
periments and  the  most  extraordinary  phenomena.  Never- 
theless, that  is  the  mistake  into  which  a  number  of  persons 
fall,  who  have  the  reputation  of  being  scientific,  and  who, 
up  to  a  certain  point,  deserve  it  in  one  branch  of  science 
or  another.  But  when  they  come  to  experiment  in 
psychical  science,  they  seem  to  lose  all  notion  of  logic ; 
or  rather  they  bring  to  psychical  science  a  real  hatred, 
which  arises  from  the  fear  of  finding  something  marvellous 
which  will  upset  some  classical  scientific  principle ;  and 
by  an  extraordinary  consequence,  these  enemies  of  the 
marvellous,  when  experimenting  with  a  psychical  pheno- 
menon, treat  it  as  though  it  were  a  question  of  something 
supernatural.  If  we  speak  to  them  of  a  lucid  subject,  they 
demand  that  he  should  read  to  them  a  Hebrew  text  of 
which  he  does  not  know  the  first  word,  or  that  he  should 
tell  them  at  once,  being  in  Paris,  what  is  happening  in 
London,  Berlin,  or  Vienna.     That  is  as  absurd  as  wishing 


592  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

to  make  a  pupil,  in  whom  one  has  recognised  a  beautiful 
voice  and  some  taste  for  music,  play  a  leading  part  at  the 
opera  Avithout  study  or  preliminary  rehearsals. 

Let  us  seek,  therefore,  to  do  away  with  this  misappre- 
hension, and  to  bring  good  faith  and  scientific  method  to 
bear  on  all  the  experiments. 

In  order  to  experiment  with  lucidity  the  subject  must 
first  of  all  be  placed  in  a  deep  state  of  hypnosis.  To 
perform  successful  experiments  in  these  states  of  deep 
sleep,  the  subject  must  be  thoroughly  known.  We  must 
not  imagine  that  some  general  hypnotic  knowledge  is 
sufficient,  such  as  would  enable  us  to  make  use  of  a 
suggestion  in  all  its  forms  and  to  modify  at  will  the  con- 
dition of  the  subject.  When  we  wish  to  start  on  delicate 
experiments  we  must  know  the  disposition  and  the  per- 
sonal faculties  of  the  subject  Ave  have  in  hand,  Avhich 
demands  a  very  particular  and  deep  study  of  each  subject. 
The  training  must  be  complete,  that  is  to  say,  Ave  must 
from  the  first  accustom  the  subject  to  be  methodically 
placed  in  the  hypnotic  state  most  favourable  to  the 
development  of  the  faculties  we  Avish  to  study. 

At  the  same  time,  Ave  must  ascertain  Avhat  are  the  pro- 
cesses Avhich  best  suit  his  sensibility  and  temperament ;  in 
what  manner  Ave  must  direct  and  hoAV  far  we  must  push 
the  hypnotic  state  in  order  to  obtain  all  that  we  expect  of 
him.  We  must  conduct  this  training  Avith  much  pru- 
dence and  gentleness  in  order  not  to  repel  the  subject, 
and  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  auto-suggestions 
aAvakened  inadvertently  or  from  Avant  of  precautions  may 
blunt  the  faculties  of  the  subject  and  endanger  the 
success  of  the  experiments. 

The  subject  ought  aUvays  to  be  used  by  the  same 
experimenter,  who  alone  ought  to  take  him  in  hand  ;  he 
alone  ought  to  direct  the  hypnotic  training,  and  later  he 
himself  ought  also  to  develop  in  the  subject  the  faculties 
on  Avhich  he  Avishes  to  experiment.  A  subject  Avho  is  in 
the  hands  of  several  experimenters,  hoAvever  rigorous  the 
method  folloAved,  will  necessarily  experience  the  infiuonce 
of  several  difi'erent  methods  of  operation.     The  hypnotic 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         593 

training  might  be  carried  to  a  certain  point,  but  it  would 
never  reach  the  highest  degree  that  might  be  expected  ; 
with  regard  to  these  psychical  faculties,  not  only  could 
they  not  acquire  their  full  development,  but  they  would 
risk  being  damaged.  These  experiments  being  made  in 
a  state  of  deep  sleep,  care  must  be  taken  to  conform 
exactly  to  the  method  we  shall  give  further  on  when 
putting  the  subject  to  sleep,  directing  his  sleep,  and  in- 
ducing awakening,  so  that  no  discomfort  or  unpleasant 
effects  may  result  from  the  experiments. 

We  have  to  consider,  in  the  second  place,  how  we  must 
proceed  in  order  to  develop  the  faculty  of  lucidity  in  a 
subject.  We  can,  without  doubt,  meet  with  subjects  in 
whom  lucidity  has  spontaneously  developed  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  at  once  reach  the  highest  degree,  or  in 
whom  the  faculty  has  already  been  exercised  in  special 
circumstances  ;  but  this  rarely  happens.  Most  frequently, 
it  is  for  the  experimenter  to  direct  and  develop  the  ten- 
dencies which  he  discovers  in  his  subject.  We  need  only 
remember  that  it  is  a  natural  faculty,  which  must  be  culti- 
vated in  the  subject,  like  any  other  intellectual  or  physical 
faculty — that  is  to  say,  it  must  be  exercised  at  first  on 
the  most  simple  things  and  gradually  be  employed  for 
more  complex  ones. 

We  must  start  from  the  principle,  that  objects  are  more 
easily  known  than  facts,  and  that  the  subject  will  always 
have  much  greater  facility  in  dealing  with  what  concerns 
or  is  known  to  the  experimenter,  because  of  the  latter's 
presence  and  the  influence  he  exerts.  We  must,  there- 
fore, first  of  all  exercise  the  lucidity  of  the  subject  on 
objects  belonging  to  the  experimenter  and  such  as  are 
familiar  to  him,  afterwards  on  actions  recently  performed 
by  him.  We  cannot  too  frequently  repeat  that  great 
patience  must  be  exercised  in  these  experiments  ;  this  rule 
is  not  confined  to  psychical  experiments,  but  as  they  are 
less  known  and  less  practised  than  others,  the  majority  of 
experimenters  are  led  to  imitate  young  pupils,  who  when 
they  have  scarcely  entered  the  laboratory,  think  that  they 
can  succeed  in  all  they  undertake.     Yet  great  patience 

2  p 


594  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

and  exactitude  in  manipulation  are  needed  in  order  to 
succeed  Avith  delicate  experiments  in  chemistry,  physics,  or 
microbe  culture,  and  we  cannot  reasonably  accord  less  to  a 
much  more  complex  science  like  experimental  psychology. 

We  must  not,  therefore,  be  afraid  to  repeat  the  same 
experiments,  until  they  have  become  absolutely  familiar  to 
the  subject,  and  he  carries  them  out  without  difficulty. 

We  have  now  to  examine  the  third  question:  How  the 
experiments  must  be  carried  on.  We  have  already  seen 
how  an  observer  ought  to  set  about  experimenting  for 
himself ;  we  have  now  to  see  how  an  experiment  is  to  be 
conducted  in  order  to  show  it  to  other  people,  who,  most 
frequently,  are  not  accustomed  to  psychical  phenomena. 
We  will  state,  first  of  all,  three  general  rules,  from  which 
the  details  of  the  procedure  to  be  followed  in  the  experi- 
ments will  easily  be  deduced  : — 

(1)  Only  make  experiments  in  the  presence  of  persons 
of  good  faith ; 

(2)  Ahvays  settle  beforehand,  and  in  writing,  all  the 
details  of  the  experiment  to  be  performed  ; 

(3)  On  no  pretext  allow  a  spectator  to  interfere  with  the 
experiment,  either  to  alter  it,  to  stop  it,  or  to  intervene  in 
any  manner  whatever,  no  matter  what  the  result  obtained. 

To  try  to  make  an  experiment  before  ^  persons  who 
have  an  interest  in  its  non-success,  and  who  will  deny 
through  prejudice  an  evident  result,  or  persons  too  flippant 
to  follow  a  scientific  experiment  seriously,  is  loss  of  time. 

Apart  from  this  circumstance,  it  is  to  the  interest  both 
of  witnesses  and  of  the  experimenters  that  the  result  of 
the  experiment  shall  be  clear  and  well  controlled.  If  it  is 
simply  a  question  of  recognising  an  object  brought  by  a 
spectator,  we  must  make  the  subject  give  some  exact 
details,  and  have  the  identity  of  the  object  recognised  by 
several  witnesses  and  by  the  experimenter.  If  we  Avish  to 
make  a  subject  read  a  number,  a  phrase,  or  a  letter  en- 
closed in  an  envelope,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  avoid 
all  discussion,  always  idle  and  ridiculous,  of  the  possibility 
of  opening  the  envelope.  There  is  a  very  simple  process 
for  preventing  this,  by  means  of  a  thread  which  is  passed 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         595 

through  the  envelope  at  four  difterent  points,  the  knot 
being  imbedded  in  the  wax  of  a  seal  on  the  flap.  If  this 
sealing  is  well  done,  no  one  can  possibly  ascertain  the 
contents  of  the  envelope  by  physical  means,  without 
leaving  evident  traces. 

If  the  experiment  refers  to  a  fact  which  has  happened 
at  a  distance,  all  the  subject  says  must  be  noted  very 
exactly  in  writing;  this  account,  in  duplicate,  will  be 
signed  by  all  the  witnesses ;  then  the  verification  of  the 
fact  will  in  the  same  way  be  recorded  in  writing,  but  by 
other  witnesses  who  have  no  knoAvledge  of  the  report 
of  the  experiment. 

During  the  experiment  itself,  it  is  for  the  experimenter 
to  assign  to  each  of  the  sitters  the  place  he  is  to  occupy, 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  experiment.  None  of 
the  witnesses  should  approach  the  subject,  and  they 
must  be  forbidden  to  speak  a  word  to  him  or  the  experi- 
menter ;  they  must  also  abstain  from  all  remarks  during 
the  experiment. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  we  have  insisted  on  details, 
apparently  insignificant;  but  it  must  be  recognised  that 
when  taken  into  account  they  will  give  indisputable  value 
to  the  observations  ;  further,  it  is  to  the  interest  of  science 
that  the  largest  possible  number  of  experiments  should 
be  conducted  in  a  uniform  manner.  Without  doubt,  in 
many  cases,  it  will  be  absolutely  impossible  to  observe  all 
these  conditions,  but  if  they  are  present  in  the  mind,  we 
can  endeavour  to  come  as  near  to  them  as  possible. 

EXTERNALISATION   OF   SENSIBILITY 

The  externalisation  of  sensibility  is  a  phenomenon 
observed  in  a  deep  state  of  hypnosis.  We  think  that  it 
is  in  the  active  mediumistic  state  alone  that  it  presents 
itself,  but  authors  are  not  agreed  upon  this  point ;  perhaps 
this  is  because  the  active  mediumistic  state,  like  the 
somnambulistic  state,  presents  several  different  degrees, 
and  consequently  has  not  always  been  recognised. 

The    externalisation    of   sensibility   is    a    rather   rare 


596  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

phenomenon.  It  is  developed  spontaneously  in  certain 
subjects — that  is  to  say,  the  subject  being  placed  in  the 
necessary  condition  of  hypnosis,  namely,  in  one  of  the 
first  phases  of  the  active  mediumistic  state,  we  notice  not 
only  cutaneous  anaesthesia  but  also  the  development  of 
sensitive  external  layers.  Most  frequently,  in  these  con- 
ditions, the  phenomenon  is  not  very  marked ;  it  remams 
more  or  less  vague  and,  in  any  case,  scarcely  amenable  to 
a  rigorously  controlled  experiment. 

In  order  to  experiment  scientifically  on  externalisation 
of  sensibility  we  must  transfer  the  sensibility  of  the 
subject  to  an  object;  a  glass  of  water  lends  itself 
best  to  the  different  tests  by  which  we  can  control  the 
phenomenon. 

We  therefore  place  a  glass  of  water  between  the  hands 
of  a  subject  who  has  been  previously  sent  to  sleep,  and 
make  passes  from  the  head  and  shoulders  of  the  subject 
down  his  arms  and  ending  at  the  glass  of  water  held 
between  his  hands.  The  experiment  shows  that  it  is 
sometimes  necessary  to  continue  these  passes  for  some 
time,  five  minutes,  or  even  longer.  From  time  to  time 
we  must  test  the  cutaneous  sensibility  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  it  is  only  when  we  find  absolute  an<X3sthesia 
that  we  can  proceed  with  the  research  on  externalised 
sensibility. 

With  some  subjects,  probably  even  the  greater  number, 
it  is  necessary,  in  addition  to  the  passes,  to  give  verbal 
suggestions  with  the  object,  first  of  producing  cutaneous 
sensibility,  and  then  of  transferring  the  sensibility  to 
the  object  chosen  for  the  experiment.  It  must  not  be 
thought  that  the  suggestions  thus  made  at  all  diminish 
the  value  of  the  experiment.  In  fact,  suggestions  made 
at  that  time  have  only  one  aim :  to  bring  about  the 
production  of  the  phenomenon.  Once  the  transfer  of  the 
sensibility  is  effected,  all  precautions  will  be  taken  that 
no  new  suggestion  shall  occur.  At  this  moment  the  entire 
interest  of  the  experiment  consists  in  the  observation  of 
the  fact  of  externalisation  of  sensibility;  the  mechanism 
by  which  the  phenomenon  is  produced  is  immaterial,  and 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         597 

we  have  sufficient  ■  means  of  verification  to  prove  whether 
the  externalisation  of  sensibility  really  exists,  apart  from 
voluntary  or  involuntary  suggestion,  or  auto-suggestion. 

The  subject  being  thus  prepared,  precaution  must  be 
taken  to  bandage  his  eyes.  It  is  necessary  to  employ  a 
special  bandage  for  this  purpose,  or  rather  a  mask,  which 
ought  to  fulfil  the  following  conditions : — 

1.  To  cover  the  eyes  without  pressure,  and  to  cover 
them  with  very  closely  woven  black  cloth  folded  several 
times ; 

2.  To  fill  up  the  whole  of  the  hollows  between  the 
cheek-bones  and  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  fitting  the  bandage 
close  to  the  cheeks  so  that  no  ray  of  light  can  penetrate 
from  below.  These  conditions  can  easily  be  realised.  For 
persons  who  have  some  knowledge  of  hypnotism,  the  ban- 
dage is  only  an  accessory,  because  we  observe  at  the  same 
time  undeniable  signs  of  the  subject's  hypnotic  condition  ; 
but  the  subject's  eyes  should  not,  under  any  pretext, 
be  bandaged  with  a  handkerchief  or  napkin,  for  these 
bandages  sometimes  allow  the  subject  to  see  within  a 
certain  range  and  lead  to  useless  and  fruitless  discus- 
sions; it  would  be  better  in  that  case  to  work  without 
any  bandage  and  to  take  other  precautions. 

We  can  then  commence  the  experiment,  and  we  must 
not  lose  sight  of  what  is  the  end  and  import  of  it,  namely, 
to  demonstrate  that  the  sensibility  of  the  subject  is  pro- 
jected and  transferred  to  the  water  in  the  glass,  so  that  if 
any  action  whatever  is  exercised  on  the  water  in  this  glass, 
the  subject  will  experience  sensations  corresponding  to  that 
action.  We  know  very  well  that  if  we  suggest  to  a  subject 
in  a  somnambulistic  state  any  sensation  whatever,  he 
will  experience  this  sensation;  we  can  suggest  a  pain  to 
a  subject,  as  we  can  take  it  away  by  suggestion ;  we  can 
suggest  to  a  subject  a  sensation  of  pricking  or  burning,  of 
heat  or  cold,  but  this  is  not  the  question  here.  We  insist 
on  this  point,  because,  on  the  one  hand,  certain  experi- 
menters fall  into  the  mistake  of  making  suggestions ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  suggestion,  voluntary  or  in- 
voluntary, is   the  great   objection   raised   by   those  who 


598  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

wish  to  deny  the  reality  of  the  phenomenon  of  externaUsa- 
tion  of  sensibility. 

In  order  to  conduct  the  experiment  properly,  we  must 
therefore  avoid  all  direct  suggestion ;  for  this  purpose 
the  witnesses  of  the  experiment  require  to  be  silent  and 
motionless,  and  they  should  direct  their  attention  solely 
to  what  is  happening  under  their  eyes.  The  experimenter 
should  himself  assign  to  the  witnesses  the  places  they 
should  occupy,  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  easily  see  the 
slightest  movements  of  the  subject,  as  well  as  all  that  is 
done  by  the  operator ;  but  he  must  not  place  them  too 
near  the  subject  or  allow  them  to  approach  him,  because 
here,  as  in  all  experiments  made  in  hypnotic  states,  the 
subject  is  affected  by  influences  from  another  person  near 
to  him,  which  may  alter  his  condition  and  prejudice  the 
success  of  the  experiments. 

The  operator  will  himself  make  the  experiments  in 
perfect  silence.  It  is  quite  easy  to  recognise  the  cutaneous 
ana3sthesia  of  the  subject  by  pinching  or  pricking  the  skin 
with  a  needle  at  different  parts.  He  must  not  forget  that 
certain  subjects  have,  at  all  times,  even  in  a  waking  state, 
more  or  less  extensive  zones  of  cutaneous  anaesthesia. 
The  sensibility  of  the  subject  must  therefore  be  tested  at 
several  diff'erent  parts  of  the  body,  some  distance  apart,  if 
the  cutaneous  sensibility  has  not  been  tested  before  the 
experiment,  and  the  parts  where  it  is  intact  ascertained. 
During  all  these  tests,  as  during  those  which  follow,  the 
subject's  face  must  be  attentively  watched,  because  it  is 
well  to  notice  the  exact  moment  when  the  sensation  is 
perceived,  as  shown  by  a  slight  contraction  of  the  features, 
before  even  he  has  time  to  report  it  by  speech. 

In  addition  to  suggestion,  Avhich  might  have  arisen 
from  the  experimenter  or  those  present  having  thought- 
lessly mentioned  beforehand  in  the  subject's  presence  the 
test  which  is  being  applied,  there  may  also  be  produced 
in  the  subject  auto-suggestions  which  will  cause  him  to 
experience  sensations  similar  to  those  that  are  the  sub- 
ject of  the  experiment  but  without  externalisation  of  the 
sensibility  really  taking  place. 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         599 

In  order  to  avoid  these  auto-suggestions,  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  speak  before  the  subject,  whether  in  the 
waking  or  sleeping  state,  of  the  nature  of  the  experiments 
to  be  performed.  His  consent  must  simply  have  been 
obtained  to  an  experiment  while  he  is  in  a  hypnotic  state, 
and  the  subject,  who  should  have  entire  confidence  in  the 
operator,  should  not  ask  for  further  explanations,  knowing 
that  they  might  be  detrimental  to  success. 

We  have  supposed  in  this  experiment  that  the  sensi- 
bility of  the  subject  has  been  transferred  to  the  glass 
of  water,  consequently  the  principal  and  most  interesting 
point  of  the  experiment  is  to  ascertain  if  the  phenomenon 
has  occurred.  In  order  to  do  this  the  point  of  the  pin  is 
slightly  pressed  into  the  surface  of  the  liquid ;  if  the  exter- 
nalisation  really  exists  the  face  of  the  subject  will  imme- 
diately show  signs  of  pain,  sometimes  also  a  shrinking 
movement  of  the  arms  is  noticed,  a  spontaneous  and 
natural  movement  when  pricking  is  felt.  Sometimes  the 
subject  will  speak  of  this  sensation,  either  of  his  own  accord 
or  in  answer  to  questions. 

If  the  phenomenon  occurs  thus,  it  may  be  objected 
that  this  was  simulation  or  auto-suggestion  on  the  part 
of  the  subject.  We  shall  see  by  what  experiments  we  can 
answer  these  objections. 

The  objection  of  simulation  can  only  be  made  in  two 
cases : — 

1.  If  we  have  neglected  to  make  an  accurate  diagnosis 
of  the  hypnotic  state  in  which  the  subject  is,  and  to  verify, 
before  the  witnesses  of  the  experiment,  the  undeniable 
signs,  impossible  to  imitate,  which  are  characteristic  of 
this  state ; 

2.  If  we  have  to  do  with  persons  who  have  not  the 
most  elementary  notions  of  hypnology. 

It  lies  ^vith  us  to  avoid  the  first  case,  and  it  is  an 
elementary  duty  for  the  experimenter  to  make  a  diag- 
nosis of  the  subject's  condition.  On  the  second  supposi- 
tion we  would  advise  those  who  wish  to  take  part  in  the 
supervision  of  psychical  phenomena  to  begin  by  learning 
hypnology. 


600  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

The  objection  of  simulation  has  therefore  no  value, 
and,  moreover,  we  shall  see  that  it  would  also  be  reduced 
to  nothing  by  the  same  means  of  control  by  which  auto- 
suggestion is  eliminated. 

The  subject  holds  the  glass  of  water  between  his  hands, 
and  we  find  that  he  experiences  a  pricking  sensation  when 
we  press  the  point  of  the  needle  into  the  water. 

As  we  know  that  there  is  often  considerable  hyper- 
sesthesia  of  the  organs  of  sense  in  subjects  in  a  hypnotic 
state,  it  might  be  said  that  the  subject  hears  the  move- 
ment of  the  hand  which  is  raised  and  loAvered  in  order  to 
press  the  needle  into  the  water.  There  is  a  very  simple 
means  of  ascertaining  this. 

Exactly  the  same  gesture  is  made,  with  the  pin  in  the 
hand,  around  the  glass  of  water;  if  it  is  noticed  that 
the  subject  expresses  the  sensation  only  when  we  prick 
the  water  with  the  pin,  we  can  no  longer  say  that  there  is 
an  auto-suggestion  due  to  hearing  the  movement,  because 
the  latter  is  exactly  the  same  in  both  cases.  But  it  may 
still  be  said  that  the  subject  saw  the  movement  of  the 
hand  through  the  eyelids  and  the  bandages. 

We  will  reply  to  this  objection  in  the  following 
manner.  After  the  subject  has  submitted  to  several  tests 
with  the  glass  of  water,  if  the  sensibility  is  thoroughly 
projected,  it  is  no  longer  necessary  for  him  to  hold  the 
glass  of  water  in  his  hands ;  we  can  take  it  from  him, 
another  person  can  hold  it,  we  can  place  it  on  a  table, 
and  if  we  do  not  remove  it  too  far  the  phenomenon  is 
produced  in  the  same  manner.  We  then  place  the  glass 
of  water  on  the  table  behind  the  chair  in  which  the  sub- 
ject is  seated  :  the  operator  again  makes  the  gesture  of 
pricking,  either  around  the  glass  or  over  it,  but  without 
touching  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  from  time  to  time 
by  the  same  movement  he  will  bring  the  needle  doAvn  to 
the  water. 

If,  in  these  conditions,  the  subject  again  expresses 
sensation  when  the  needle  touches  the  water  and  absolutely 
nothing  in  the  other  cases,  it  must  necessarily  be  con- 
cluded that  there  is  a  connection  between  the  contact  of 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         601 

the  water  with  the  pm  and  the  sensation  perceived.  It  is 
absohitely  impossible  for  the  subject  to  see,  by  this  arreaige- 
ment,  what  happens  behind  him ;  it  is  also  impossible  for 
him  to  hear  a  difference  in  movement  when  the  hand  hold- 
ing the  pin  is  raised  or  lowered  around  the  glass,  whether 
the  pin  penetrates  the  water  or  whether  it  remains  clear  of 
the  surface. 

Lastly,  we  have  to  examine  the  objection  which  con- 
sists of  explaining  the  phenomenon  of  the  externalisa- 
tion  of  sensibility  by  mental  suggestion.  This  objection 
seems,  it  is  true,  capable  of  explaining  all  the  phenomena 
and  to  be  a  very  embarrassing  one.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
not  impossible  for  us  to  reply  to  it.  This  objection  can 
only  come  from  persons  havmg  some  knowledge  of 
hypnotic  and  psychical  phenomena,  and  it  is  much  easier 
to  reply  by  some  decisive  facts  to  persons  who  know 
something  than  to  the  ignorant.  When  the  experimenter 
pricks  the  water  with  a  pin,  either  in  front  of  or  behind 
the  subject,  there  is  the  possibility  of  an  involuntary 
mental  suggestion  on  his  part ;  if  the  same  action  is  per- 
formed by  an  assistant  or  by  some  person,  other  than  the 
experimenter  himself,  there  is  still  possibility  of  a  mental 
transmission,  because  the  subject  may  receive  a  sugges- 
tion from  any  person  who  has  knowledge  of  the  action 
which  should  influence  him. 

We  have  two  methods  of  avoiding  this  objection.  The 
first  consists  in  using  a  small  automatic  apparatus  to  press 
the  pin  into  the  water ;  this  sets  in  motion  a  lever  which 
supports  the  point,  without  either  the  experimenter  or  any 
one  present  being  able  to  know  the  time  when  the  contact 
takes  place.  The  experimenter  meanwhile  confines  him- 
self to  recording  with  the  same  apparatus  the  precise 
moment  when  the  subject  experiences  the  sensation.  It  is 
sufficient,  then,  to  ascertain  if  the  two  events  have  taken 
place  simultaneously. 

We  can  again  use  the  phenomenon  of  delay  of  sensa- 
tion in  the  subject,  which  occurs  when  this  sensation 
comes  to  him  through  several  organisms.  For  this  pur- 
pose we  form  a  chain  of  three,  four,  or  five  persons;  the 


602 


PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 


one  Avho  is  at  the  extreme  end  holds  the  subject's  hand, 
the  person  at  the  other  extremity  holds  the  glass  of  water. 
The  persons  who  form  the  chain  do  not  see  either  when 
the  needle  is  plunged  into  the  water  or  the  time  when  the 
subject  experiences  the  sensation.  There  is  then  evidenced 
a  delay  in  the  sensation,  proportionate  to  the  number  of 
persons  who  form  the  chain.  If  mental  suggestion  had 
been  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon,  it  would  have  been  as 
rapid  in  this  case  as  when  the  subject  held  the  glass  of 
water  himself. 

When  we  have  made  all  these  experiments  with  the 
precautions  indicated,  we  have  demonstrated  the  reality 
of  the  phenomenon  of  projection  of  sensibility.  We  can 
then  vary  the  experiment  in  different  ways:  by  trying, 
for  example,  if  the  sensibility  at  different  points  of  the 
subject's  body  is  externalised  in  the  same  degree,  or  by 
transferring  this  sensibility  to  other  persons  or  to  different 
objects,  and  noting  the  substances  which  appear  most 
favourable  to  the  phenomenon.  All  this  can  be  done  by 
conforming  in  a  general  way  to  the  same  rules. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  see  what  special  precautions 
are  to  be  taken  in  order  that  the  subject  may  not  suffer 
any  pain  or  annoyance  from  the  experiments  to  which  he 
submits. 

The  hypnotic  state  demands  particular  precautions 
which  will  be  the  object  of  special  study  in  the  following 
chapter ;  we  will  not,  therefore,  now  speak  of  the  general 
rules  which  are  common  to  all  deep  hypnotic  states. 

We  do  not  know  exactly  what  happens  in  the  sensa- 
tions experienced  by  the  subject  in  these  conditions,  but 
we  ought  to  act  as  though  the  sensations  which  he  experi- 
ences by  the  intermediary  of  the  sensitised  object  were  as 
strong  as  those  which  he  would  have  experienced  if  the 
action  had  been  performed  directly  on  him,  and  as  though 
this  projected  sensibility  could  produce  the  same  general 
reactions  as  the  direct  excitation  of  his  organism.  We 
should  therefore  never  make  too  violent  tests;  this  is 
also  why  the  experimenter  should  always  make  the 
tests  himself.      Among  those  present  at  an  experiment 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         603 

there  are  always  some  sceptics,  and  sceptics  so  illogical 
that  they  always  wish  to  force  the  experiment  under  the 
pretext  of  seeing  what  the  subject  will  do.  Prudence  is 
therefore  indispensable,  particularly  when  we  wish  to 
make  some  fresh  test. 

In  addition  to  violent  tests  which  we  ought  to  avoid, 
there  are  also  some  which  have  a  special  action  on  the 
subject,  because  of  the  hypnotic  state  in  which  he  is. 
We  know,  in  fact,  that  certain  actions,  insignificant  in  the 
case  of  a  subject  in  a  waking  state,  cause  violent  reactions 
in  a  hypnotised  subject.  In  the  present  case  experience 
has  shown  that  if,  after  havmg  transferred  the  sensibility  of 
a  subject  into  a  vase  containing  a  saturated  saline  solu- 
tion, we  cause  the  liquid  to  crystallise,  the  subject  may  be 
thrown  into  a  cataleptic  state.  We  therefore  take  special 
precautions,  in  view  of  the  possibility  of  this  phenomenon, 
when  we  make  experiments  of  this  character. 

When  we  have  transferred  the  sensibility  of  a  sub- 
ject into  a  glass  of  water,  if  we  absorb  a  portion  of  this 
water  by  a  sponge,  the  experiment  demonstrates  that  the 
subject  seems  to  experience  very  pronounced  suffering. 
This  experiment  must  therefore  always  be  conducted 
with  many  precautions  :  care  must  be  taken,  as  long  as  it 
continues,  to  watch  the  subject  carefully,  and  it  is  ex- 
pedient not  to  prolong  it  unduly.  Further,  observation 
leads  us  to  believe  that  abrupt  movements  or  transforma- 
tions in  the  liquid  to  which  the  sensibility  of  the  sub- 
ject has  been  transferred,  such  as  the  upsetting  of  the 
liquid,  certain  chemical  combinations,  boiling,  &c.,  may 
produce  in  the  subject  violent  sensations  or  more  or  less 
dangerous  crises.  The  conclusion,  therefore,  is  that  much 
prudence  should  be  brought  to  bear  on  this  class  of 
experiment. 

After  the  experiments,  danger  may  consist  either  in 
certain  objects  remaining  in  relation  with  the  sensibi- 
lity of  the  subject,  who  in  consequence  may  be  exposed 
to  injuries ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  subject  has  retained  in 
himself,  independently  of  the  objects,  disturbances  of  his 
normal  sensibility.     To  avoid  these  two  drawbacks  it  is 


604  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

necessary,  first  of  all,  after  each  part  of  the  experiment, 
to  liberate  the  sensibility  of  the  subject  from  every  object 
which  may  have  received  it ;  and,  in  the  second  place, 
before  ending  the  seance  to  bring  the  subject  completely 
back  to  his  normal  sensibility.  These  two  results  are 
surely  and  easily  obtained  by  means  of  suggestions,  and  it 
is  well  to  add  the  suggestion  that  he  should  forget  all  the 
modifications  of  sensibility  which  have  been  produced 
during  sleep. 

EXTERNALISATION   OF   FORCE 

We  now  come  to  some  rarer  psychical  phenomena,  the 
conditions  of  which  are  yet  little  known,  and  consequently 
difficult  to  obtain.  These  experiments  must  be  divided 
into  two  groups  which  have  absolutely  different  aims :  the 
first  has  for  its  object  simply  to  demonstrate  the  existence 
of  psychic  force ;  others  endeavour  to  determme  what  are 
the  different  phenomena  that  this  force  can  produce,  and 
what  are  the  conditions  in  which  these  phenomena  can 
take  place  with  the  greatest  intensity. 

The  experiments  of  the  first  category  are  very  easily 
carried  out;  they  are  simple,  but  they  are  also  very 
limited.  In  order  to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  psychic 
force,  we  simply  need  a  special  instrument.  In  order  that 
these  experiments  may  be  of  value  it  is  necessary  that 
this  instrument  should  contain  any  magnetised  needle  or 
induction  bobbin  of  solenoid  of  any  description,  or  any 
\y  part  that  can  receive  an  electric  current,  or  that  contains 
in  itself  a  current  which  can  be  modified  by  the  electricity 
J  which  is  developed  in  all  living  organism ;  and  those  con- 
^^  ditions  are  realised  in  the  sthenometer.  When  we  have 
thus  an  instrument  which  cannot  be  influenced  by  elec- 
tricity, light,  or  heat,  we  have  only  to  guard  it  from  the 
air  and  from  any  tremors  which  might  be  communicated 
to  it. 

For  experiments  of  the  second  category,  the  difficulties 
are  much  greater.  Here  we  have  to  investigate  the  pheno- 
mena that  can  be  produced  through  certain  subjects  en- 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         605 

dowed  with  absolutely  abnormal  faculties,  either  a  psychical 
force  of  very  considerable  intensity,  or  simply  a  very  great 
facility  in  projecting  and  directing  these  forces. 

The  conditions  of  these  phenomena  are  all  the  more 
difficult  to  define,  because  if  they  have  been  sometimes 
methodically  observed,  in  the  greater  number  of  cases, 
they  have  presented  themselves  in  a  fortuitous  manner 
and  amid  surroundings  unfavourable  for  scientific  ob- 
servation. We  are  therefore  reduced  to  act  in  an 
almost  empirical  manner,  and  to  reproduce  as  exactly 
as  possible  the  conditions  in  which  these  phenomena 
have  been  obtained. 

We  know,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  presence  of  a 
medium  is  necessary — that  is  to  say,  from  our  point  of 
view,  a  subject  capable  of  being  placed  in  an  active 
mediumistic  state.  Sometimes,  it  is  true,  experiments 
are  undertaken  without  making  choice  of  a  medium 
beforehand.  If  we  obtain  some  results  under  these  con- 
ditions, it  is  really  because  there  is  a  medium  among 
the  experimenters. 

It  is  necessary  that  there  should  not  be  a  very  large 
number  of  experimenters;  four  or  five  persons  seem  to 
give  the  best  conditions ;  we  may  go  up  to  eight  as  the 
maximum.  This  maximum  figure  ought  to  include  all 
persons  present  at  the  experiment,  whether  they  take 
direct  part  in  it  or  remain  as  simple  spectators.  It  is 
evident  that  it  is  necessary  to  eliminate  rigorously  every 
person  who  does  not  wish  to  undertake  a  serious  scien- 
tific observation  of  the  phenomena,  or  who  refuses  to 
submit  to  the  conditions  of  the  experiment,  such  persons, 
for  example,  as  only  regard  them  as  a  pastime  and  who 
would  be  disposed  to  turn  them  into  a  joke. 

The  experimenters  ought,  as  far  as  possible,  to  be  in  a 
sparsely  furnished,  closed  room,  moderately  illuminated. 
They  must  then  place  themselves  round  a  small  table, 
about  which  they  can  all  sit ;  and  they  should  either  place 
their  hands  open  and  flat  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  or 
form  a  chain,  by  holding  each  other's  hands  without 
touching  the  table  in  the  midst  of  them. 


606  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

It  may  be  asked  why  we  need  this  table,  which  must 
make  the  experiment  look  like  a  farce  or  anything  rather 
than  a  scientific  experiment. 

We  reply  that  we  confine  ourselves  to  describing  the 
arrangement  in  which  the  phenomena  are  most  frequently 
manifested ;  that,  wishing  to  reproduce  these  phenomena, 
we  cannot  do  better,  in  order  to  have  every  chance  of 
success,  than  to  place  ourselves  in  the  same  conditions ; 
that  it  is  precisely  because  we  place  ourselves  above  all 
prejudices,  and  accept  indifferently  all  objects,  whatever 
they  may  be,  which  are  presented  to  us  as  favourable  to 
the  end  in  view,  that,  up  to  the  present,  we  have  found 
nothing  better  than  the  table,  but  we  should  be  ready  to 
substitute  any  other  object  which  could  be  proved  to 
have  contributed  to  the  manifestation  of  the  phenomena. 
Moreover,  since  the  majority  of  mediums,  whom  we  are 
compelled  to  take  as  they  are,  usually  make  use  of  a 
table,  the  table  may  be  useful  to  fix  and  maintain  their 
attention,  and  thus  to  put  them  in  the  frame  of  mind 
most  favourable  to  the  manifestation  of  their  faculties. 
Although  the  phenomena  are  produced  around  the 
medium,  most  frequently  in  an  unexpected  manner,  and 
by  means  of  all  sorts  of  objects,  it  very  frequently  happens 
that  it  is  by  means  of  the  table  that  the  first  effects  of 
the  psychic  force  are  manifested. 

These  reasons  are  sufiicient,  until  we  are  more  certain 
as  to  the  laws  which  govern  these  phenomena,  to  cause 
us  to  adopt  the  rules  previously  followed  by  other  ex- 
perimenters. A  part  of  the  psychic  force  employed  for 
the  manifestation  of  the  phenomena  seems  to  emanate 
from  the  whole  of  the  experimenters — this  force  seems  to 
require  to  be,  as  far  as  possible,  equalised,  and  that  is  why 
we  advise,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  experimenters,  that 
the  two  sexes  should  be  alternated,  or  rather  the  sensitives 
alternated  with  those  who  are  less  sensitive. 

It  may  happen  that  the  medium,  when  he  is  laiown, 
gives  some  indications  as  to  the  arrangements  to  be  made 
for  the  experiment,  or  asks  for  some  alteration  in  the 
arrangements  already  made.     We  should,  as  far  as  pos- 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTATION         607 

sible,  accede  to  such  indications,  provided  that  they  do  not 
interfere  with  scientific  observation  and  place  no  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  the  control. 

The  seance  ought  to  be  directed  by  a  person  chosen 
as  having  the  greatest  authority  and  competence  in  this 
class  of  experiment.  This  director  should  have  entire 
charge  of  the  order  and  nature  of  the  experiments,  as  well 
as  of  all  the  methods  of  control  to  be  employed ;  in  fact, 
it  is  on  the  certainty  and  rigour  of  his  scientific  observa- 
tion that  the  value  of  the  results  which  may  be  obtained 
will  depend.  The  other  experimenters  ought  then  to 
submit  themselves  to  all  the  arrangements  judged  to  be 
useful  by  the  director,  whose  authority  should  extend  to 
the  slightest  details  of  the  experiment. 

It  is  well  as  a  rule  to  demand  silence  during  the 
experiments ;  however,  as  the  period  of  waiting  may  be 
rather  long,  we  can,  in  certain  cases,  tolerate  a  serious 
and  calm  conversation  among  the  experimenters,  but  they 
should  particularly  avoid  prejudging  or  discussing  in  any 
way  the  phenomena  which  they  are  expecting;  the  con- 
versation should  therefore  turn  on  some  other  subject. 
Moreover,  in  this  class  of  experiments,  patience  is  abso- 
lutely indispensable  in  the  experimenters,  the  phenomena 
sometimes  being  very  long  in  making  their  appearance ; 
therefore,  the  director  of  the  seance  should  sustain  the 
attention  of  the  experimenters  and  encourage  them  to 
wait  patiently. 

It  may  be  that  we  are  working  with  a  medium  chosen 
beforehand ;  or  that  a  group  of  experimenters  has  simply 
met  in  the  hope  of  finding  among  them  the  necessary 
medium. 

In  this  latter  case,  the  director  of  the  seance,  by  atten- 
tively observing  all  the  experimenters,  should  look  out 
for  symptoms  which  may  indicate  that  one  of  them  is  a 
medium. 

When  he  has  discovered  him,  he  will  endeavour  to 
study  him,  without  however  making  him  known  to  the 
other  experimenters,  because  it  is  often  useful,  at  least  at 
the  commencement,  that  the  subject  himself  should  be 


608 


PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 


ignorant  as  long  as  possible  of  the  influence  he  exercises 
on  the  phenomena  obtained. 

It  is  better  only  to  make  use  of  one  medium  at  a  time, 
in  order  not  to  mix  or  impede  the  phenomena  which  take 
place  or  the  forces  which  are  brought  into  play.  Also 
when  we  discover  several  mediums  among  the  experi- 
menters, it  is  necessary  to  make  some  pretext  for  dividing 
the  experiments,  and  to  admit  to  each  seance  only  one 
medium  at  a  time. 

When  we  have  discovered  the  subject  who  is  to  act  as 
medium,  it  is  not  necessary  to  persist  in  seeking  to  obtain 
a  particular  class  of  phenomena.  We  must  at  first  ask 
nothing  from  him,  and  leave  him  alone,  contenting  our- 
selves with  observing  and  waiting  for  the  phenomena 
which  may  be  manifested.  If  the  subject  shows  a  ten- 
dency to  lend  himself  to  certain  classes  of  experiments, 
or  the  desire  to  see  certain  manifestations  produced,  we 
must  not  oppose  him,  because,  most  frequently,  he  will 
thus  show  the  special  faculties  which  he  possesses. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  medium,  the  most  important 
thing  to  be  ascertained  is  the  class  of  phenomena  which  he 
is  capable  of  producing.  Once  the  capacities  of  the  subject 
are  established,  we  can  indirectly  suggest  the  various  pheno- 
mena of  this  class  that  we  may  desire  to  observe. 

We  must  endeavour  before  all  else  to  obtain  clear  and 
precise  facts ;  then,  by  the  supervision  to  which  we  submit 
these  phenomena,  we  can  assure  ourselves  that  they  are 
really  produced  by  a  psychic  force;  that  is  to  say,  by  a 
force  other  than  the  known  physical  forces — in  short,  that 
the}''  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  trickery  on  the  part  of 
the  subject. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  studied  the  difli'erent 
classes  of  fraud  on  the  part  of  subjects  with  which  we  may 
have  to  deal,  we  have  therefore  no  need  to  return  to  this 
point  here.  We  need  only  repeat  that  if  we  believe  we 
perceive  any  trickery  we  should  not  be  in  a  hurry  to 
unmask  it,  and  at  once  to  confound  the  subject,  as  a  less 
experienced  observer  would  do  who  was  ignorant  of  what 
a  subject  is   and   what   psychical   phenomena   are.     We 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTATION         609 

must  only  watch  the  medium  more  carefully,  and,  if  we 
see  that  the  fraud  is  voluntary  and  constant,  abandon  this 
subject  as  being  unable  to  serve  for  serious  experiments 
and  seek  for  another;  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  see  that 
the  fraud  is  involuntary  and  only  passing,  there  is  no 
reason  to  part  with  the  medium ;  it  is  sufficient  to  bring 
more  attention  and  patience  to  bear  on  the  observation 
of  the  phenomena.  It  is  in  this  case  particularly  that 
we  shall  find  great  advantage  in  the  use  of  registration 
apparatus  and  the  most  delicate  instruments,  with  which 
we  shall  easily  distinguish  doubtful  results  from  those 
which  may  be  conclusive. 

Finally,  we  must  know  how  to  limit  very  definitely  the 
compass  of  the  experiments  which  we  undertake.  In  the 
present  condition  of  our  knowledge  what  we  have  to  estab- 
lish scientifically  is : — 

(1)  If  the  medium  is  able,  in  certain  conditions,  to 
produce  authentic  psychical  phenomena. 

(2)  What  are  the  phenomena  Avhich  this  medium  can 
produce  ? 

(3)  What  are  the  conditions  in  which  we  can  observe 
these  phenomena  ? 

By  conducting  experiments  in  this  way,  and  confining 
ourselves  to  drawing  these  conclusions,  they  will  have  an 
indisputable  scientific  value,  and  will  be  of  unquestionable 
utility  in  advancing  our  knowledge. 


2q 


CHAPTER   XL 

method  of  experimenting 

Geneeal  Rules 

We  have  studied  up  to  now  the  different  categories  into 
which  we  can  divide  all  psychical  phenomena;  it  would 
therefore  appear  that  our  task  is  at  an  end.  It  seems  to 
us,  however,  that  our  study  of  the  method  of  experiment- 
ing on  psychical  phenomena  ought  to  be  completed  by 
a  final  chapter.  In  fact,  we  have  found  that  some  experi- 
menters are  hindered  in  their  studies  by  the  vague  fear 
of  what  would  happen  to  their  subjects  from  experiments 
of  this  class.  On  the  other  hand,  many  persons  who  would 
be  very  good  subjects,  mediums  even,  are  afraid  to  lend 
themselves  to  these  experiments,  under  the  pretext  that 
they  are  often  dangerous,  or,  at  least,  unfavourable  to  their 
health. 

We  have  now  to  examine  what  foundation  there  is 
for  these  fears,  and  to  study  the  real  or  even  imaginary 
dangers  which  are  feared  by  the  subjects  and  experi- 
menters. 

The  best  things,  if  badly  done,  present  certain  disad- 
vantages. There  is  not  an  exercise,  recommended  on  the 
score  of  health,  such  as  gymnastics,  cycling,  or  any  other, 
in  which  we  may  not  hurt  ourselves  if  we  go  to  Avork 
imprudently  or  without  experience.  Even  a  simple  bath, 
however  necessary  to  health,  may  make  us  ill  if  we  do 
not  observe  the  well-known  rules  with  regard  to  tempera- 
ture, digestion,  ^kc. 

It  is  the  same  with  hypnotism  :  badly  done,  it  presents 
disadvantages  and  dangers ;  well  done,  it  is  much  less 
dangerous  than  a  simple  ride  in  a  carriage  or  on  a  bicycle. 

We  consider  hypnotism  here  because  we  believe  that 


METHOD    OF    EXrERIMENTING  611 

the  mediumistic  states,  and,  in  general,  all  the  states  in 
which  ps3'chical  phenomena  are  produced,  are  varieties 
of  the  hypnotic  conditions,  and  to  those  who  dispute  this 
opinion  we  say  that,  at  least  from  the  psychological  point 
of  view,  they  can  be  compared  with  them. 

We  will  divide  our  subject  methodically,  and  examine 
in  order : — 

(1)  The  immediate  dangers  to  the  subject  which  may 
result  from  hypnotic  sleep. 

(2)  The  more  remote  dangers  to  the  subject,  resulting 
from  hypnotic  sleep. 

(3)  The  dangers  that  are  not  due  to  hypnotic  sleep 
itself,  but  to  suggestions. 

(4)  The  dangers  which  may  exist  the  hypnotiser. 

(5)  The  rules  to  be  followed  in  order  to  avoid  all  the 
inconveniences  or  dangers  which  may  exist. 

hninediate  dangers  to  the  subject  resulting  from 
hypnotic  sleep. — It  is  evidently  only  a  question  here  as 
to  hypnotic  states  which  are  so  deep  that  the  subject  is 
put  to  sleep  ;  because  in  the  lighter  states,  such  as  waking 
somnambulism,  as  also  in  the  case  of  suggestions  made  in 
the  waking  state,  there  is  no  real  cause  for  apprehension 
on  the  part  of  either  subjects  or  experimenters. 

The  first  objection  often  made  by  subjects  whom  it  is 
proposed  to  send  to  sleep  is :  "I  fear  that  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  wake  up  again."  Whence  comes  this  fear  ?  Does 
it  rest  on  any  serious  foundation  ?  It  is  not  the  sleep  in 
itself  that  provokes  this  fear,  because  no  one  ever  thinks 
of  not  going  to  sleep  at  night  for  fear  of  not  waking  up  the 
next  morning.  It  therefore  arises  from  the  fact  that  the 
hypnotic  sleep  is  an  induced  sleep,  and  the  general  public 
assimilate  this  provoked  sleep  with  another  induced  sleep, 
but  a  very  different  one,  of  which  they  have  also  heard, 
namely,  that  produced  by  chloroform. 

The  chloroform  sleep  is  dangerous,  and  a  large  number 
of  accidents  have  been  known  to  arise  from  this  anoDsthetic 
agent.  The  chloroform  sleep,  like  that  due  to  opium, 
morphia,  chloral,  &c.,  is  nothing  else  than  a  real  poisoning. 
Chloroform  acts  on  the  brain,  lungs,  and  heart,  and  if  the 


612  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

action  produced   on  one   of  these  organs  is  too  strong, 
poisoning  supervenes. 

It  is  quite  different  with  hypnotic  sleep.  Hypnotism 
introduces  no  poison  into  the  organism,  and  cannot  there- 
fore exert  an  injurious  action  on  any  organ.  Hypnotic  sleep, 
from  the  physiological  point  of  view,  is  exactly  similar  to 
natural  sleep,  and  is  just  as  little  liable  to  cause  any 
accident.  One  may  die  in  bed  as  one  may  at  table,  or 
when  out  walking,  or  in  a  chair ;  but  one  always  dies  from 
an  illness  or  an  accident ;  never  from  sleep,  whether  natural 
or  hypnotic. 

It  is  sometimes  also  feared  that  hypnotic  experiments 
may  produce  convulsive  attacks.  It  is  certain  that  a  large 
number  of  subjects  in  whom  hypnotic  phenomena  are 
easily  obtained  are  hysterical  persons.  Those  subjects 
who  are  accustomed  to  have  nervous  attacks  under  all 
circumstances  and  at  all  times  of  the  day  may  also  have 
them  during  hypnotic  experiments.  Further,  as  most 
frequently  these  attacks  come  on  under  the  influence  of 
emotion  or  vexation,  if  hypnotic  experiments  excite  or 
disturb  them,  they  may  bring  on  nervous  attacks.  But 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  best  remedy  for  con- 
vulsive fits  is  the  hypnotic  treatment.  Hypnosis  is  the 
true  process  for  the  cure  of  the  nervous  attacks,  because 
it  is  the  only  treatment  by  which  we  can  fight  them  in 
their  origin  and  in  their  causes.  It  is  also  the  best  means 
by  which  we  can  master  and  stop  the  convulsions  them- 
selves at  the  moment  of  their  appearance- 
There  is  therefore  no  occasion  to  fear  that  any  nervous 
convulsions  whatever  are  produced  by  hypnotic  experi- 
ments. If  the  subject  has  a  disposition  to  such  con- 
vulsions, not  only  can  they  be  arrested,  but  they  can 
be  cured  by  this  very  means  of  hypnosis,  provided  one 
knows  how  to  use  it. 

Dreams  or  attacks  of  delirium  may  be  produced  during 
hypnotic  sleep,  sometimes  accompanied  by  hallucinations, 
in  which  the  subject  sees  persons  who  may  be  either 
sympathetic  or  disagreeable  to  him ;  sometimes  a  vague 
remembrance   of   these  hallucinations   persists  after   the 


METHOD   OF  EXPERIMENTING  613 

waking.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  us  to  say  that  this 
delirium  and  these  hallucinations  ought  to  be  regarded 
as  of  the  same  nature  as  nervous  fits,  of  which  they  are 
only  a  modification.  The  hypnotiser  ought  therefore  to 
stop  them  and  drive  them  away  by  the  same  procedure 
by  which  he  combats  the  convulsive  attacks. 

Can  hypnotic  sleep  be  prolonged  beyond  the  will  of  the 
hypnotiser,  and  may  he  experience  any  difficulty  in  Avaking 
up  the  sleeping  subject?  This  is  the  fear  expressed  by 
some  experimenters,  but  it  is  more  chimerical  than  real. 
If  the  sleep  thus  prolonged  were  a  lethargic  or  cataleptic 
fit,  it  would  come  within  the  category  of  nervous  convul- 
sions of  which  we  have  previously  spoken,  and  it  can  and 
ought  to  be  efficaciously  fought  by  hypnotic  suggestion. 
If  not,  the  hypnotiser  Avould  have  to  be  one  of  small 
experience  and  forgetful  of  the  most  elementary  rules  of 
hypnotic  practice,  if  he  experienced  any  difficulty  in 
awaking  his  subject;  and,  even  in  this  case,  if  an  ex- 
perienced hypnotiser  were  present,  he  would  always  be 
able  to  restore  the  subject  to  his  normal  state. 

It  is  also  advisable,  in  order  to  reassure  certain  people 
who  fabricate  imaginary  dangers,  to  remind  them  of  the 
laws  which  govern  the  memory  in  the  hypnotic  states. 
The  fundamental  law  is  this:  in  the  waking  state  the 
remembrance  of  what  has  passed  in  the  deep  hypnotic 
states  does  not  exist ;  but  in  the  deep  hypnotic  states  the 
subject  preserves  the  memory  of  what  has  happened  both 
in  the  waking  and  in  the  corresponding  hypnotic  condi- 
tions. We  have  not  to  concern  ourselves  here  with  the 
special  laws  which  govern  the  memory  in  the  different 
hypnotic  states  as  related  one  to  another ;  the  general 
law  is  sufficient  to  show  that  hypnosis  does  not  in  any  way 
enfeeble  the  normal  memory.  The  hypnotic  condition 
passes  like  a  dream,  or  even  like  a  beneficial  sleep,  with- 
out exercising  the  slightest  injurious  action  on  any  of  the 
intellectual  faculties. 

Some  subjects,  after  having  been  hypnotised,  complain 
of  fatigue  or  of  pain  in  the  head.  This  may  arise  from 
several  causes :  most  frequently  it  is  because  the  subject 


614  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

himself  licas  resisted  the  sleep ;  he  has  therefore  had  a 
struggle  Avith  the  hypnotiser,  and  it  is  this  effort  that  has 
made  him  tired  and  caused  him  to  suffer.  In  other  cases  it 
is  because  the  hypnotiser  has  tried  to  go  too  fast,  and  has 
not  exercised  sufficient  gentleness  and  moderation  in  send- 
ing the  subject  to  sleep ;  he  can  avoid  this  inconvenience 
by  following  a  little  more  patiently  the  rules  we  shall  give 
further  on.  Nor  should  the  operator  forget  that  the  resist- 
ance of  the  subject  is  sometimes  unconscious ;  it  is  for  him 
to  recognise  this  and  to  employ  indirect  means  to  over- 
come it  without  causing  the  subject  to  become  needlessly 
fatigued. 

Dangers  to  the  Subject,  stvbsequent  to  Hypnotic  Sleep 

We  have  now  to  examine  the  possible  dangers  to  the 
subject,  after  the  hypnotic  sleep  is  over. 

We  find  here  again  the  same  prejudice,  which  causes 
the  fear  that  the  employment  of  hypnotism  may  bring  on 
convulsive  fits  or  lead  to  an  aggravation  of  the  hysteria.  It 
is  indeed  difficult  to  understand  how  such  a  fear  can  arise  in 
the  mind  of  any  one  who  sees  the  state  of  calm,  comfort, 
and  peaceable  repose  peculiar  to  hypnotic  sleep.  But 
it  must  also  be  remarked  that  the  majority  of  those  who 
express  this  fear  have  never  seen  people  seriously  hypno- 
tised, and  are  quite  ignorant  as  to  what  scientific  hypnotism 
is.  Therefore,  the  whole  of  their  reasoning  is  only  based 
on  a  fantastic  idea  of  hypnotism  due  to  their  imagination. 

We  must  repeat  here  what  we  have  already  said 
before :  it  is  certain  that  many  hypnotic  experiments  are 
made  with  hysterical  subjects.  Such  persons  are  often 
subject  to  convulsions,  Avhicli  seize  them  unexpectedly 
under  the  influence  of  many  different  causes — annoyances, 
fears,  digestive  trouble,  &c.  It  may  therefore  happen 
with  these  sufferers  that  a  convulsive  fit  may  come  on  at 
a  longer  or  shorter  period  after  a  hypnotic  seance ;  but 
that  is  no  reason  for  saying  that  this  fit  is  the  result  of 
being  hypnotised,  any  more  than  if  it  occurred  after  a 
walk  it  Avould  be  correct  to  ascribe  it  to  the  exercise. 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTING  615 

We  have  admiulcd  that  these  attacks,  broiii^dit  on  by 
an  accidental  cause,  quite  apart  from  hypnotism,  may  by 
chance  happen  after  a  hypnotic  seance ;  well,  even  that  is 
going  too  far,  and  we  must  hasten  to  add  a  correction. 
This  coincidence  can,  in  fact,  only  occur  after  the  first 
stances,  and  if  the  hypnotiser  has  not  yet  secured  sufficient 
influence  over  his  subject.  In  fact,  if  the  hypnotising  is  pro- 
perly carried  out,  whether  by  a  doctor  or  by  an  experienced 
hypnotiser,  a  few  seances  will  be  sufficient  to  stop  these 
fits  and  prevent  their  return.  For  hypnotism  and  hypnotic 
suggestion  are  the  best  treatment  for  neurotic  trouble  and 
for  the  nervous  or  convulsive  attacks  which  arise  from 
them. 

It  is  superfluous,  after  what  has  been  said,  to  add  any- 
thing on  the  subject  of  the  fear,  sometimes  expressed,  that 
hypnosis  will  aggravate  hysteria,  since  the  hypnotic  treat- 
ment is  the  rational  one  for  hysteria.  Hypnotism  employed 
in  an  experimental  manner  does  not  prevent  the  making 
of  suggestions  appropriate  to  the  treatment  of  the  malady  ; 
it  can  therefore  only  be  useful  to  the  subject  in  every  way, 
and  never  injurious. 

There  may  sometimes  occur  after  hypnotic  sleep  hallu- 
cinations which  arise  from  two  different  causes.  Either 
this  hallucination  is  only  the  return  and  the  reproduction 
of  a  hallucination  which  occurred  during  the  hypnotic 
sleep ;  or  else  it  is  the  result  of  fortuitous  or  involuntary 
suggestion  made  during  hypnosis.  In  either  case  it  is 
difficult  to  admit  that  such  hallucinations  can  have  any 
serious  consequences.  But  we  would,  and  can,  avoid  even 
the  least  discomforts  which  might  result  from  hypnotic 
experiments.  That  is  easily  done ;  for  hallucinations  are 
produced  during  the  course  of  hypnotic  sleep.  We  can 
cause  them  to  vanish  immediately  by  a  contrary  sugges- 
tion ;  further,  we  can  prevent  their  future  return  by  a 
preventive  suggestion.  In  the  second  place,  by  keeping  a 
strict  watch  upon  everything  that  might  produce  sugges- 
tions during  hypnosis,  we  can  easily  avoid  producing 
them ;  we  must  also  not  forget  that  accidental  sugges- 
tions may  be   made   apart   from   ourselves,  whether   by 


616  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

witnesses  of  the  experiment  or  by  circumstances  that 
might  produce  auto-suggestions  on  the  part  of  the  subject, 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  prevent  them  by  making  the  sub- 
ject impervious  to  them  by  a  positive  suggestion. 

One  of  the  principal  objections  which  many  persons 
make  to  hypnotic  experiments  is  that,  by  thus  accustom- 
ing the  subject  to  being  hypnotised,  we  may  develop  in 
him  a  sensitiveness  to  hypnotic  influence,  so  that  in  the 
future  he  may  be  hypnotised  too  easily.  This  question 
deserves  to  be  considered  from  two  points  of  view. 

The  subjects  with  whom  experiments  in  the  deeper 
states  of  hypnosis  can  be  successfully  carried  out,  and 
the  only  ones  with  whom  we  are  now  concerned,  must  be 
classed  in  two  categories :  those  who  are  very  easily 
hypnotised,  who  at  once,  from  the  first  seances,  fall  into 
deep  hypnotic  states,  and  are  consequently  strongly  open 
to  suggestion ;  and  those  who  reach  this  condition  after  a 
certain  training.  With  regard  to  the  first  class,  Ave  must 
not  ascribe  the  facility  with  which  they  are  hypnotised 
to  the  seances  regularly  held,  whether  experimental  or 
therapeutic,  since  they  possess  this  sensibility  beforehand. 
Training  can  only  regulate  it,  limit  it,  and  protect  them 
from  the  inconveniences  to  which  they  might  be  exposed 
through  it.  With  regard  to  the  second  class,  since  this 
sensibility  is  developed  by  the  hypnotiser  himself,  it  will 
be  very  easy  for  him  to  direct  it  properly  and  to  make  use 
of  it  in  order  to  give  the  useful  and  preventive  suggestions 
of  Avhich  we  shall  presently  speak. 

The  examination  of  what  might  be  feared  from  the 
development  of  hypnotic  sensibility  will  indicate  at  the 
same  time  the  means  for  remedying  it. 

The  first  thing  that  might  be  feared  from  hypnotic 
training  is  that  it  renders  the  subject  easily  hypnotised  by 
any  person ;  this,  however,  Avould  only  be  harmful  if  the 
subject  could  be  hypnotised  at  any  time  against  his  will. 
In  this  case  the  subject  will  be  afraid  of  being  placed  at 
the  mercy  of  any  hypnotiser,  and  the  dangers  which  may 
result  from  this  circumstance  may  be  ranged  under  four 
heads : — 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTING  617 

1.  The  abuse  that  the  hypnotiser  may  make  of  the 
state  of  sleep  in  which  the  subject  is  placed  to  injure  him 
in  any  way, 

2.  The  suggestions  that  he  may  impose  on  him  and 
which  may  lead  to  culpable  actions. 

3.  The  simple  impulses  that  he  can  give  to  the  ideas 
and  actions  of  the  subject,  and  which  are  not  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own  wishes  and  intentions. 

4.  A  certam  tendency  to  accept  the  will  of  the 
hypnotiser,  resulting  from  the  habit  of  receiving  sug- 
gestions, which  place  the  subject,  even  in  the  waking 
state,  in  a  condition  of  comparative  dependence,  and 
which  would  be  painful  to  him  if  the  hypnotiser  did  not 
completely  possess  his  confidence  and  sympathy.^ 

The  second  thing  that  might  be  feared  from  hypnotic 
training  is  the  spontaneous  involuntary  sleep,  produced 
by  the  sight  of  brilliant  objects,  lights,  flames,  metallic 
articles  or  crystals. 

These  attacks  of  sleep  may  have  two  disadvantages : — 

(1)  If  produced  unexpectedly  in  certain  circumstances 
they  may  cause  accidents. 

(2)  The  fit  of  sleep  may  be  prolonged  for  some  time  if 
an  experienced  hypnotiser  is  not  at  hand  to  dissipate  it. 

We  shall  see  that  all  these  objections  and  fears,  in 
themselves  very  legitimate,  fall  to  the  ground  of  them- 
selves. In  fact,  the  hypnotiser  who  trains  a  subject  will 
not  fail  to  protect  him  from  all  harm  by  two  preventive 
suggestions  which  he  will  give  him  in  any  case,  and 
particularly  in  proportion  as  his  hypnotic  sensitiveness 
develops.     These  suggestions  consist : — 

1.  In  forbidding  him  to  allow  himself  to  be  hypnotised 
by  any  hypnotiser  or  suggester,  except  the  hypnotiser 
himself  or  some  other  person  specially  designated  by  him 
to  do  so. 

1  All  this,  however,  enters  into  the  question  of  the  relation  between 
hypnotism  and  jurisprudence,  a  question  which  we  discussed  in  detail  at 
the  Neurological  Congress  at  Brussels  in  1897,  and  at  the  International 
Congress  on  Hj'pnotism  at  Paris  in  1900.  See  the  Proceedings  of  each 
Congress. 


618  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

This  restriction  specially  refers  to  the  therapeutic  use 
of  hypnotism ;  in  fact,  the  doctor  who  treats  a  patient  by 
hypnotism,  although  it  is  his  duty  to  protect  him  from  all 
the  dangers  of  which  we  speak,  ought  not  to  expose  him  to 
the  deprivation  of  the  benefits  of  hypnotic  treatment,  if 
an  accidental  circumstance  prevents  him  from  applying  it 
himself.  This  is  why  he  makes  the  preventive  suggestion, 
reserving  to  himself  the  possibility  of  naming  a  successor 
or  a  substitute. 

2.  The  second  preventive  suggestion  consists  in  pro- 
hibiting him  from  allowing  himself  to  be  sent  to  sleep  by 
any  object  that  is  not  directly  employed  by  the  hypnotiser 
himself  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  hypnosis. 

Thus,  therefore,  when  this  elementary  precaution  is 
taken,  and  it  ought  always  to  be  taken,  whether  in  thera- 
peutical or  in  experimental  hypnotism,  there  remain 
absolutely  no  dangers  or  fears  which  can  be  raised  as 
objections  to  the  development  of  hypnotic  sensitiveness. 
I  will  even  go  further  and  say  that  this  proves  that 
hypnotism  is  essentially  useful  because  it  is  necessary 
to  the  whole  class  of  subjects  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  who  exhibit  great  and  spontaneous  hypnotic 
sensitiveness,  and  no  one  can  know  in  advance  whether 
he  does  not  come  within  this  category.  These  subjects 
who,  by  their  peculiar  nature,  may  be  suddenly  exposed 
to  the  dangers  we  have  enumerated  are  definitely  pro- 
tected by  preventive  suggestions  made  to  them  in  the 
course  of  hypnotic  seances.  If  some  subjects  complain 
that  hypnotism  produces  in  them  agitation,  nervous 
excitement,  insomnia,  these  objections  will  not  detain  us 
long,  because  these  phenomena  only  arise  from  the  fear 
which  the  subject  has  of  hypnotism.  This  fear  disappears 
immediately  when  the  subject  has  experienced  for  him- 
self the  calm  and  comfort  which  result  from  hypnosis, 
and,  moreover,  all  these  momentary  effects  will  rapidly 
disappear  under  appropriate  suggestions. 

Sometimes  subjects  complain  of  pain  in  the  head  after 
seances  ;  these  pains  arc  produced  when  the  subject  resists 
the  hypnotiser  and  makes  efforts,  more  or  less  conscious, 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTING  619 

not  to  go  to  sleep ;  the  headache  is  due  to  the  fatigue 
arising  from  this  struggle.  This  result  is  no  longer  pro- 
duced when  the  subject  gives  himself  up  without  resist- 
ance. Moreover,  as  soon  as  a  suggestionable  condition  is 
produced,  however  slight,  the  hypnotiser  should  take 
advantage  of  it  to  drive  away  the  headache  and  prevent 
its  recurrence. 


Bangers  ivhich  do  not  proceed  from  Sleep  but  from 
Suggestion 

We  have  first  of  all  to  consider  auto-suggestion,  which 
may  be  divided  into  three  categories. 

The  first  is  that  of  auto-suggestion,  which  may  be 
developed  in  the  subject  during  sleep,  in  hypnotic  ex- 
periments. The  hypnotiser  can  always  very  easily  per- 
ceive auto-suggestions  of  this  kind  and  can  easily  stop 
their  development. 

Independently  of  the  experiments  made  by  the  hypno- 
tiser, auto-suggestion  may  also  be  developed  in  the  subject 
either  from  experiences  of  an  accidental  sensation,  or  the 
sight  of  an  object  which  had  caught  his  eyes  before  the 
sleep. 

In  the  third  place,  auto-suggestions  may  arise  through 
the  prolongation  of  an  idea  existing  previous  to  the  sleep 
and  not  confessed  to  the  hypnotiser. 

It  is  not  always  so  easy  for  the  hypnotiser  to  perceive 
the  development  of  these  two  last  kinds  of  auto-sugges- 
tion; and  therefore  he  ought  to  be  warned  of  their 
possibility  in  order  to  watch  for  them  and  combat  them. 

Experimental  suggestions  ought  always  to  be  made 
directly  by  the  hypnotiser,  and  to  be  strictly  limited  to 
the  duration  of  the  experiment.  The  majority  ought  to 
be  carried  out  under  the  eyes  of  the  experimenter,  and 
he  should  be  careful  to  neutralise  them  completely  at  the 
close  of  the  seance.  However,  in  certain  cases,  one  is  led 
by  the  experiments  themselves  to  make  suggestions,  the 
effect  of  which  will  be  prolonged  for  some  time  after  the 
seance,  or  even  may  only  bo  realised  some  time  afterwards. 


620  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

In  the  last  case,  especially,  the  suggestion  ought  to  be  very 
exactly  defined,  so  that  nothing  can  be  added  to  the  sug- 
gestion that  had  been  made,  and  that  its  effect  may  com- 
pletely cease  immediately  the  experiment  is  at  an  end. 

When  a  doctor  or  a  psychologist  devotes  himself  to 
hypnotic  experiments,  it  is  his  duty  to  make  use  of  the 
power  that  he  acquires  and  the  sensibilit}^  developed,  for 
the  good  of  the  subject.  He  may  therefore  often  have  to 
make  suggestions  to  the  subject,  for  a  purpose  which  the 
subject  himself  will  indicate,  or  even  which  the  hypnotiser 
may  propose,  because  he  can  see  that  they  may  be  useful. 
In  the  use  of  these  suggestions,  though  very  good  in 
themselves,  there  are  two  dangers  to  be  avoided. 

The  subject,  yielding  to  impressions  or  ill-considered 
desires,  is  not  always  sufficiently  rational  to  appreciate  for 
himself  the  import  of  the  suggestions  made  to  him.  In 
this  case,  which  we  may  compare  with  simulation  on  his 
part,  he  deceives  the  hypnotiser  in  order  to  induce  him  to 
make  a  suggestion  that  is  bad  for  him. 

The  psychologist  ought  to  know  how  to  find  out  the 
real  bent  of  the  subject,  he  should  act  prudently  and 
Avithout  going  directly  against  the  subject's  wish ;  he  must 
understand  where  his  mistake  lies,  and  lead  him  to  desire 
for  himself  the  suggestion  that  is  good  for  him. 

In  the  second  case,  the  subject  is  sincere  and  asks  for  a 
suggestion  that  he  really  believes  will  be  useful  to  him. 
But  the  psychologist  possesses  a  knowledge  and  an  ex- 
perience which  enable  him  to  see  better  and  further  than 
the  subject ;  he  knows  all  the  importance  and  the  conse- 
quences of  a  suggestion,  and,  as  he  is  invested  with  the 
confidence  of  the  subject,  he  ought  to  judge  for  himself  if 
what  he  asks  for  is  really  in  his  interest. 

He  must  never  forget  in  this  case  that  a  suggestion 
that  is  very  good  in  itself,  at  the  moment  when  it  is  asked 
for  by  the  subject,  may  only  be  so  temporarily  ;  the  ideas 
and  feelings  of  the  subject  may  change,  the  circumstances 
may  no  longer  be  the  same  ;  but  the  subject  ought  never 
to  have  to  regret  the  infiuoncc  produced  by  a  suggestion 
that  has  been  made  to   him,  and  the   possibility  must 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTING  621 

therefore  be  foreseen  that,  although  good  at  first,  a  sug- 
gestion might  afterwards  become  harmful  to  him.  This 
is  easy  to  avoid  by  taking  care,  in  all  cases  where  there 
may  be  the  slightest  doubt,  to  make  only  temporary  and 
conditional  suggestions. 


Precautions  to  be  taken  for  the  Hyi^notiser 

We  have  so  far  considered  the  dangers  and  harm  to 
the  subject  which  may  arise  from  hypnotic  experiments ; 
these  are  the  only  ones  of  which  we  habitually  think.  It 
is  no  less  true  that  there  may  also  be  dangers  to  the 
experimenter,  and  Ave  must  pass  them  rapidly  in  review. 

We  have  seen  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter 
that  no  serious  accident  can  result  from  the  regular  and 
scientific  use  of  hypnotism.  But,  unfortunately,  un- 
pleasant coincidences,  although  quite  accidental,  may  pre- 
sent themselves ;  and  it  is  just  these  coincidences  that 
very  often  cause  the  public  to  fear  the  most  inoffensive 
things  and  inconsiderately  expose  themselves  to  danger. 
The  majority  of  people,  in  fact,  do  not  see  very  far,  and 
always  think  they  find  the  cause  of  an  event  in  the  facts 
which  accompany  it  or  immediately  precede  it.  There- 
fore, in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  the  hypnotiser  is  respon- 
sible for  everything  that  happens  during  the  hypnosis  or 
immediately  after  the  experiments,  even  if  these  events 
have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  hypnotism. 

The  hypnotiser  ought  therefore  to  foresee  all  that  may 
happen,  and  the  apparent  cause  to  which  any  accident  may 
be  ascribed,  and  the  most  elementary  prudence  compels 
him,  if  there  is  the  least  danger,  to  abstain  from  all 
experiment  and  to  refuse  to  hypnotise.  So  much  for  the 
accidents  which  ignorance  or  prejudice  may  attribute  to 
the  use  of  hypnotic  sleep. 

But  there  are  more  real  inconveniences  and  annoyances 
with  Avhich  he  may  with  some  reason  be  reproached. 

First  of  all,  there  are  hallucinations  or  unpleasant 
dreams  that  may  present  themselves  during  hypnosis, 
the  recollection  of  which  may  persist  after  the  awaking ; 


622  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

even  if  the  recollection  of  them  is  effaced,  these  hallucina- 
tions may  leave  a  painful  impression,  a  sadness  in  the 
subject's  mind.  He  must  avoid  that  at  once  by  repressing 
these  hallucinations  or  at  least  by  effacing  their  effects 
before  awakening  the  subject. 

Another  class  of  hallucinations  which  may  be  produced 
during  hypnosis,  and  against  which  he  must  guard,  are 
those  by  which  the  subject  takes  the  persons  present  for 
persons  known  to  him,  and  the  hypnotiser  himself  for 
some  one  else.  In  general,  these  hallucinatory  visions 
cause  the  subject  to  see  persons  who  arouse  to  some  extent 
his  sympathy,  or  more  frequently  still,  his  antipathy ;  so 
that  they  are  most  frequently  disagreeable  to  the  subject. 
These  hallucinations  must  be  foreseen  and  prevented 
from  developing,  as  soon  as  the  first  signs  of  them  are 
observed ;  if  any  occur  before  they  can  be  prevented,  or 
accidentally,  the  subject  must  at  least  be  caused  to  forget 
them  on  waking. 

In  the  third  place,  there  are  ideas  and  feelings,  not 
hallucinatory,  which  may  arise  in  the  subject;  whether 
they  relate  to  other  persons  or  to  the  hypnotiser  himself, 
they  may  do  harm  if  special  care  is  not  taken.  This  is  a 
very  delicate  point,  demanding  much  tact  and  skill  on  the 
part  of  the  hypnotiser.  He  ought  always  to  direct  his 
subject  with  gentleness  and  prudence,  and  by  his  general 
bearing  try  to  gain  his  confidence,  at  the  same  preserving 
full  authority  over  him. 

Lastly,  another  danger  may  result  for  the  hypnotiser 
through  the  bad  faith  of  the  hypnotised  subject ;  whether 
it  be  trickery  or  absolute  simulation  on  the  subject's  part ; 
or  whether,  impelled  by  motives  which  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  unravel,  he  makes  use  of  the  circumstances  to 
attempt  blackmail,  or  simply  to  throw  out  calumnies  or 
malevolent  insinuations  with  regard  to  the  h3^pnotiser. 
In  order  to  avoid  all  annoyance  the  hypnotiser  will  always 
have  this  possibility  present  in  his  mind ;  he  will  always 
have  an  absolute  guarantee  in  all  cases  by  never  hypnotis- 
ing except  before  witnesses,  in  case  he  has  the  slightest 
doubt  as  to  his  subject. 


:\IETHOD   OF   EXrERBIENTING  623 

Rules  that  ought  to  he  folloived  in  the  Use  of  Hypnotism 
and  in  Psychical  Experiments 

We  have  so  far  examined  the  ill-consequences  and 
dangers  which  may  accompany  experimental  hypnotism  ; 
on  the  one  hand,  in  order  to  learn  how  to  avoid  them,  and 
on  the  other,  to  reply  to  objections  which  may  be  raised. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  give  the  rules  which  every 
experimenter  ought  to  follow  in  making  use  of  hypnotism, 
by  which  he  will  at  the  same  time  avoid  the  ill-conse- 
quences which  we  have  set  forth  and  obtain  the  most 
satisfactory  results  from  these  experiments. 

1.  Before  undertaking  any  experiment,  he  should  study 
his  subject  well  from  the  physical  and  moral  point  of  view. 
In  order  to  do  this  he  must  himself  first  of  all  gain  all  the 
information  he  can,  but  never  accept  the  same  without 
personal  verification.  By  a  serious  and  close  examination 
he  should  ascertain  precisely  his  physiological  or  patho- 
logical state.  His  psychical  and  moral  state  will  also  be 
determined  by  several  special  tests. 

2.  He  should  put  his  subject  to  sleep  gently,  without 
abruptness,  by  following  a  regular  and  well-determined 
method,  but  not  always  the  same  method ;  for  he  should 
vary  and  select  the  method  employed  according  to  :  (1) 
The  subject.  (2)  His  condition.  (3)  The  end  which  it  is 
desired  to  attain. 

3.  The  preliminary  examination  of  the  subject  will 
enable  him  to  foresee  the  attacks  which  may  come  on.  At 
the  same  time  that  he  sends  him  to  sleep  and  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  experiment  he  will  be  careful  to  prevent 
them  from  developing,  by  stopping  them  at  the  commence- 
ment. If  necessary,  during  the  first  seances,  he  must 
frequently  awaken  the  subject  and  put  him  to  sleep  again 
several  times  over.  After  a  few  well-conducted  seances, 
the  danger  of  the  attacks  will  be  entirely  obviated,  and  no 
further  precaution  will  be  needed. 

4.  Fatigue  must  also  be  prevented  by  suggestion ;  not 
that  the  fatigue  can  be  the  result  of  hypnosis,  but  it  may 
come  through  auto-suggestion.     He  will  also  dissipate  by 


624  PSYCHICAL  PHENOMENA 

suggestion  any  fatigue  that  may  have  existed  before  the 
seance,  and  the  auto-suggestion  that  fatigue  may  be  pro- 
duced can  also  be  prevented.  Agitation,  or  any  discomfort, 
and  the  headache  which  generally  occurs  as  the  result 
of  resistance,  more  or  less  conscious  on  the  part  of  the 
subject,  can  also  be  provided  against,  as  well  as  dreams 
and  insomnia. 

5.  The  seances  should  not  be  prolonged  at  the  begin- 
ning, but  should  instead  be  held  frequently.  If  it  is 
desired  to  obtain  important  results  in  the  experiments 
undertaken,  seances  must,  at  first,  be  held  regularly. 

6.  For  the  awakening,  suggestion  accompanied  by  slow 
and  moderate  movements  should  be  employed.  When 
the  subject  is  well  trained,  the  awakening  may  be  rapid, 
but  it  should  never  be  sudden ;  in  all  cases  it  will  have 
been  prepared  for  by  suggestions  previously  made  to  the 
subject.  When  the  deeper  hypnotic  states  have  been 
reached  by  several  successive  stages,  the  return  must  be 
made  through  the  same  phases. 

7.  The  experimenter  should  provide  against  the  very 
acute  suggestionability  which  may  be  developed  in  the 
subject;  for  this  purpose  he  must  remain  sole  possessor 
of  the  hypnotic  power  acquired  over  the  subject.  But 
he  must  provide  for  the  possibility  of  the  subject  being 
compelled,  in  his  own  interests,  to  have  recourse  to  another 
hypnotiser ;  he  must  reserve  the  power  of  designating  very 
precisely  a  substitute  who  can  hypnotise  and  make  sug- 
gestions to  the  subject. 

8.  He  should  provide  against  auto-hypnotism  of  the 
subject  by  circumstances  similar  to  those  which  accom- 
pany the  experiment,  and  particularly  against  auto- 
hypnotisms  produced  by  the  sight  of  a  brilliant  or 
luminous  object ;  he  should  also  prevent  auto-suggestions 
of  any  character  which  might  subsequently  be  developed 
in  the  subject. 

9.  In  the  majority  of  cases  at  the  beginning,  and 
particularly  with  subjects  of  an  hysterical  tendency,  he 
should  only  send  them  to  sleep  in  the  presence  of  trust- 
worthy witnesses. 


METHOD   OF   EXPERIMENTING  625 

10.  He  should  never  allow  himself  to  make  susfsrestions 
outside  of  those  made  in  view  of  the  end  desired  by  the 
subject,  or  in  his  interests,  and  should  always  obtain  his 
consent  beforehand  to  experimental  suggestions. 

11.  He  should  find  out  as  quickly  as  possible  the 
special  faculties  of  the  subject,  and  specially  cultivate 
in  him  the  kind  of  experiment  for  which  he  is  adapted. 
He  must  not  forget,  in  fact,  that  if  he  tries  to  develop 
different  faculties  in  the  subject,  this  will  generally  be 
detrimental  to  those  which  he  spontaneously  possesses. 

12.  There  should  be  a  regular  gradation  in  the  most 
important  and  complex  experiments.  When  it  is  noticed 
that  any  experiment  fatigues  the  subject,  the  fatigue 
should  be  dispelled  by  suggestion  before  waking. 

13.  Always  remember  that  the  hypnotiser  is  the  sole 
judge  of  the  experiments  that  he  can  make  with  his 
subject,  and  the  conditions  in  which  they  ought  to  be 
carried  out.  Never,  therefore,  be  influenced  by  the  wishes 
or  by  the  doubts  or  objections  of  witnesses,  who  ought 
never  to  be  permitted  to  interfere  in  the  experiments. 

14.  When  experiments  are  concerned,  bring  a  much 
greater  prudence  to  bear  than  in  any  other  use  of 
hypnotism ;  never  depart  from  the  general  rules,  and  only 
make  experiments  to  which  the  subject  consents. 

15.  Always  act  in  such  a  manner  that  neither  the 
experiments  nor  the  after  effects  can  be  injurious  or 
unpleasant  to  the  subject.  On  the  contrary,  so  manage 
that  the  subject  always  gains  some  good  from  hypnotism. 

16.  Bear  in  mind  the  very  great  influence  that  the 
suggestions  may  have  on  the  life  of  the  subject,  on  his 
physical  as  well  as  on  his  moral  state. 

17.  Whatever  may  be  the  circumstances,  if  the  subject 
is  suffering,  whether  or  not  it  is  possible  to  cure  him,  he 
can  always  be  relieved.  Whatever  wishes  the  subject  may 
express,  only  consent  to  suggestions  which  may  be  useful 
to  him,  and  lead  him  to  desire  them.  So  arrange  that 
the  subject  can  only  desire  real  physical  and  moral  good 
from  hypnotism  and  suggestion,  and  from  all  the  experi- 
ments made  upon  him. 

2r 


626  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

If  these  rules  we  have  formulated  are  followed  precisely 
we  think  that  no  one,  however  strict  he  may  be,  can  deny 
that  under  these  circumstances  such  experiments  are  quite 
legitimate. 

We  hope,  therefore,  that  in  the  last  part  of  this  study 
we  have  dispelled  certain  prejudices  by  examining  fear- 
lessly and  without  reticence,  all  the  objections  which  it 
seemed  to  us  could  possibly  be  raised. 

Investigators  may  thus  go  forward  with  their  experi- 
ments with  greater  security,  and,  at  the  same  time,  these 
experiments,  by  being  carried  on  with  more  rigorous  and 
scientific  precision,  will  have  a  greater  influence  on  the 
development  of  our  knowledge. 


CHAPTER    XLl 

A   GENERAL   CONSIDERATION   OF   PSYCHICAL 
PHENOMENA 

Conclusion 

Let  us  now  consider  the  inferences  resulting  from  the 
facts  which  we  have  studied,  and  what  conchisions  may 
be  logically  drawn  from  them. 

We  have  been  able  to  recognise  the  authenticity  of 
a  certain  number  of  facts  of  thought-transmission,  of 
telepathy.  These  phenomena  demonstrate  the  possibility 
of  a  mental  communication  from  one  mind  to  another, 
outside  the  usual  channels  of  our  normal  senses. 

Related  to  this  category  of  phenomena  are  abnormal 
dreams,  crystal-gazing,  clairaudience,  typtology,  and  auto- 
matic writing. 

Other  facts  prove  to  us  the  perception  of  certain 
thoughts  or  knowledge  which  previously  existed  in  an- 
other mind,  even  at  a  comparatively  distant  period. 
This  phenomenon,  which  may  be  explained  in  various 
ways,  seems  to  prove  that  an  indestructible  impression 
is  left  of  every  thought  conceived  by  the  mind. 

The  act  of  thinking  would,  therefore,  appear  to  result 
in  the  creation  of  an  immaterial  and  permanent  entity, 
which  survives,  not  only  the  act  itself,  but  also  the  person 
who  has  produced  it,  and  which  is  able  to  produce  in- 
definite results  and  to  be  perceived  under  certain  special 
conditions. 

This  permanence  of  thought  and  of  all  mental  activity 
has  moral  consequences  of  the  greatest  importance,  which 
we  shall  study  and  expound  in  another  work. 

These  phenomena  of  thought-transmission,  telepathy 
and  perception  of  a  mental  act  do  not  take  place  in  a 
normal  state,  but  require  special  conditions,  of  which  one 

627  2  R  2 


628 


PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 


of  the  principal  is  a  peculiar  state  in  the  subjects,  which 
may  be  compared  with  hypnotic  conditions. 

Lucidity,  of  which  we  have  seen  examples  of  rigorously 
demonstrated  authenticity,  proves  to  us  that  certain 
subjects  possess  a  peculiar  faculty  which  enables  them 
to  perceive  a  whole  series  of  mental  thought  phenomena 
and  of  material  facts  which  are  outside  the  range  of  their 
normal  senses.  Further,  by  means  of  these  perceptions, 
which  are  very  clear  and  trustworthy  and  which  are  not 
disturbed  by  any  extraneous  influence,  these  subjects  are 
able  to  draw  accurate  deductions,  which  result  from  the 
inflexible  logical  connection  between  facts.  It  therefore 
follows  that  if  no  new  element  springs  up  outside  the 
anticipated  facts  arising  from  those  already  in  process 
of  completion,  the  previsions  of  the  subject  are  realised. 
The  lucidity  of  subjects  is  therefore  variable,  and  all  the 
greater  when  they  have  been  capable  of  foreseeing  the 
largest  number  of  those  elements  which  may  influence 
the  order  of  events,  and  of  drawing  the  logical  conclusions. 

Lucidity   not   only  depends   on   a  special   faculty  in 
J  certain  subjects,  but  is  only  manifested   in  them  when 
they   are    in    a    particular    condition    allied   to   hypnotic 
states. 

Connected  with  the  phenomenon  of  lucidity  are  crystal- 
gazing,  clairaudience,  automatic  writing,  typtology,  pre- 
dictions, and  somnambulistic  visions. 

With  the  externalisation  of  sensibility  we  arrive  at 
another  order  of  phenomena.  The  human  organism,  by 
projecting  certain  of  its  faculties,  seems  to  have  extensions 
which  go  beyond  the  limits  of  the  material  body  which 
we  perceive  by  our  ordinary  senses. 

But  is  this  faculty  of  perceiving  sensations  at  a  dis- 
tance as  extraordinary  as  it  appeared  at  first,  so  much  so 
indeed  that  many  serious  minds  for  a  long  time  refused  to 
believe  it  ? 

Let  us  remark  at  the  outset  that  the  externalisation  of 
sensibility  is  only  the  momentary  extension  of  the  normal 
faculty  of  touch. 
\    To  those  Avho  find  it  too  extraordinary  that  the  nervous 


A   GENERAL   CONSIDERATION  629 

papilla)  of  a  sense  organ  should  perceive  at  a  distance  the 
sensation  of  impression  by  certain  objects,  I  would  remark 
that  they  admit  without  doubt  that  the  sense  of  smell 
can  be  exercised  at  a  distance,  that  the  sense  of  hearing 
perceives  impressions  of  sound  at  a  great  distance  from 
the  object  producing  it,  that  the  sense  of  sight  perceives 
visual  impressions  at  a  still  greater  distance. 

And  if  they  reply  that  imperceptible  particles  of  odori- 
ferous bodies  come  directly  in  contact  with  the  papilla?  of 
the  olfactory  nerve,  that  there  are  special  vibratory  waves 
which  directly  cause  vibrations  in  the  auditory  nerve  or 
strike  on  the  retina;  I  will  reply  that  there  is  nothing 
to  prove  that  there  do  not  likewise  exist  special  waves  or 
vibrations  which  emanate  from  all  bodies,  and  which  are 
perceptible  only  to  the  sense  of  touch,  and  only  then  when 
it  is  raised  to  a  degree  of  special  exaltation  through  a 
certain  hypnotic  condition. 

This  hypothesis  is  the  more  admissible  because  we 
do  not  know  why  certain  slow  vibrations  impress  the 
auditory  nerve  and  not  the  retina,  whilst  some  more  rapid 
vibrations  do  not  impress  the  auditory  nerve  but  are 
perceived  by  the  retina.  Do  we  not  also  know  of  some 
vibrations  which  give  neither  sonorous  nor  luminous 
impressions,  and  yet  produce  chemical  effects?  There 
may,  therefore,  also  be  vibrations  of  another  order  which 
are  not  perceived  by  any  other  means  that  we  know,  but 
which  may  be  perceived  by  the  sense  of  touch  m  certain 
special  conditions. 

The  externalisation  of  sensibility  leads  us  by  analogy 
to  the  externalisation  of  force,  because  here  again  it  seems 
that  we  observe  an  extension  of  certain  faculties  of  the 
organism  beyond  the  limits  of  the  material  body. 

The  externalisation  of  force  is  observed  first  of  all 
by  the  action  of  the  organism  on  the  needle  of  the 
sthenometer.  It  is  manifested  in  the  phenomena  of 
movement  of  objects  without  contact,  levitation  of  objects 
or  of  the  medium,  raps  or  knocks  made  at  a  distance,  and 
hauntings. 

All  these  phenomena  are  only  observed  in  the  presence 


630  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

of  a  subject  endowed  with  special  faculties — a  medium, 
and  when  the  subject  is  placed  in  a  condition  other 
than  the  normal  one.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  for 
the  medium  to  receive  the  co-operation  of  other  persons  ; 
he  would  appear  to  act  as  an  accumulator  of  a  force 
which  he  himself  possesses  in  a  high  degree,  but  Avhich 
he  is  sometimes  able  to  supplement  by  drawing  from 
other  organisms,  and  which  he  condenses  and  then  directs 
himself. 

Not  only  is  this  externalised  force  intimately  connected 
with  the  medium's  presence,  but  it  would  appear  that 
the  medium  directs  it  himself  by  means  of  his  corporeal 
limbs.  Thus  we  see  the  medium  make  movements  which 
absolutely  synchronise  with  the  displacements  of  objects 
which  are  beyond  his  reach.  This  also  explains  why,  if 
we  ask  the  medium  to  set  an  object  in  motion  without 
contact,  we  frequently  see  him  advance  his  hands  towards 
the  object  as  though  he  would  take  hold  of  it. 

This  movement  has  frequently  led  to  the  suspicion  of 
fraudulent  intention  on  the  part  of  the  medium.  It  is 
nothing  of  the  sort,  it  is  an  automatic  movement,  per- 
haps useful  or  even  necessary,  because  it  seems  that  the 
medium  exerts  his  externalised  force  by  means  of  an 
invisible  member,  which  seems  to  be  the  prolongation  of 
his  normal  limb,  or  at  any  rate  he  directs  this  force  by 
the  movement  of  his  muscles.  If  the  object  to  be  dis- 
placed is  sufficiently  distant  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
medium's  hand,  we  may  allow  him  freely  to  stretch  out 
his  arm  and  extend  his  hand ;  we  shall  thus  see  him  put 
the  object  in  motion,  though  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
touch  it,  and  we  shall  lind  that  the  displacements  of  this 
object  coincided  exactly  with  the  movements  of  his  arm 
and  hand. 

Darkness  seems  to  bo  a  condition  Avhich  facilitates  the 
development  of  the  externalised  force.  Many  mediums 
ask  for  darkness,  or  at  least  for  a  very  faint  light,  and  it 
is  noticeable  that  the  greater  the  development  of  force 
required  by  the  phenomenon  desired,  the  more  complete 
must  be  the  darkness.     This  is  also  why  the  majority  of 


A   GENERAL   CONSIDERATION  631 

mediums  demand,  in  addition  to  the  general  darkness 
of  the  room,  the  provision  of  an  even  darker  cabinet, 
which  is  formed  by  enclosing  a  corner  of  the  room  within 
curtains. 

In  this  cabinet,  and  in  the  still  deeper  shadow  of  these 
curtains,  are  placed  the  articles  which  arc  to  serve  for  the 
demonstration  of  the  phenomenon.  The  medium  remains 
outside  the  curtain,  consequently  the  greater  darkness 
of  the  cabinet  cannot  serve  to  conceal  any  fraud,  but  we 
nearly  always  find  that  the  manifestations  of  the  force  are 
more  energetic  inside  the  cabinet,  where  no  one  is,  than 
outside,  and  if  an  object,  originally  placed  in  this  cabinet, 
comes  out  through  the  influence  of  the  medium's  force, 
we  see  it  move  with  greater  difficulty  when  it  is  clear  of 
the  curtain  and  is  in  a  brighter  light. 

Modifications  of  matter  are  phenomena  which  are 
manifested  through  certain  mediums,  at  the  same  time 
as  the  phenomena  of  motricity. 

We  cannot  refuse  to  admit  the  existence  of  these 
phenomena  which  have  been  witnessed :  (1)  A  large 
number  of  times ;  (2)  in  conditions  of  absolute  and  rigor- 
ously scientific  control ;  (3)  by  men  whose  authority  and 
scientific  competence  do  not  allow  us  to  doubt  the 
veracity  of  their  testimony. 

These  phenomena  include  the  passing  of  certain  solid 
"^■Kcw  bodies  through  other  solid  bodies. 

K  With  regard  to  this  phenomenon  we  must  remember 
that  it  was  believed,  even  lately,  that  certain  opaque  bodies 
cannot  be  traversed  by  luminous  rays  capable  of  project- 
ing on  a  photographic  plate  the  shadows  of  objects  placed 
behind  them,  and  a  fortiori  we  believed  that  our  retina 
could  never  perceive  the  objects  placed  behind  these 
opaque  bodies.  The  discovery  of  the  X-rays  has  de- 
monstrated to  us  that  our  conception  of  matter,  and  in 
particular  of  that  property  of  bodies  which  we  call 
opacity,  must  be  entirely  modified.  Our  present  ideas  on 
the  impenetrability  of  matter  may  very  probably  one  day 
'be  found  to  be  quite  erroneous  and  have  to  be  similarly 
modified. 


632  PSYCHICAL   PHENOMENA 

We  will  also  place  in  this  category : — 

1.  Apparitions  which  leave  material  traces  of  their 
presence. 

2.  Impressions  obtained  by  certain  mediums  in  wax, 
clay,  or  putty. 

3.  The  tactile  sensation  of  invisible  bodies  perceived 
by  experimenters. 

4.  Partial  or  total  materialisations. 

5.  Finally,  the  apparition  of  phantoms  which  can  be 
touched  or  photographed. 

These  phenomena  depend  not  only  on  the  presence  of 
the  medium,  but  also  on  his  will. 

The  medium  knows  the  phenomena  which  he  is  going 
to  produce :  he  makes  efforts  to  realise  them :  his  efforts 
synchronise  with  their  realisation. 

The  phantoms  produced  by  mediums  possess  force  and 
form. 

With  regard  to  the  force,  the  medium,  as  in  the  pheno- 
menon of  the  externalisation  of  motricity,  accumulates  and 
condenses  the  force  that  he  draAvs  from  the  spectators  along 
with  his  own,  and  puts  it  into  operation  by  his  will. 

He  may  be  all  the  more  aided  by  the  group  around 
him  if  he  feels  between  the  different  persons  of  the  group 
a  sympathetic  current  which  favourably  influences  him, 
and  if  he  finds  in  this  circle  other  persons  who  are 
endowed  with  a  greater  faculty  of  externalisation  of 
force ;  and,  finally,  if  the  wish  to  assist  in  producing  the 
phenomena  of  externalisation  is  general  in  the  circle. 

With  regard  to  the  form,  it  depends  both  on  the  idea 
in  the  medium's  mind  and  the  dominant  idea  among  the 
persons  composing  the  circle. 

Therefore  the  materialisation  has  more  chances  of 
being  complete,  durable,  and  perfect,  when  the  idea  con- 
ceived by  tlie  circle  is  perceived  in  one  and  the  same 
manner  by  all  the  members  of  the  circle ;  when  it  is 
stronger,  more  precise,  and  more  homogeneous  in  their 
minds. 

The  medium  is  therefore  more  especially  a  collector 
who  gathers,  concentrates,  and  condenses  the  thought  of 


A   GENERAL   CONSIDERATION  63.S 

the  persons  surrounding  him  together  with  his  own,  which 
thought  probably  plays  a  predominant  part  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  image. 

While  gomg  as  far  as  possible  in  the  scientific  study 
and  in  the  interpretation  of  the  mechanism  of  these 
phenomena,  we  ought  to  maintain,  with  regard  to  their 
explanation  and  cause,  that  attitude  of  prudent  reserve 
which  caused  Pio  Foa  to  say : — 

"  There  are  some  superb  humilities,  and  it  has  appeared  to 
certain  thinkers  that  the  word  Ignorabimus  !  was  one  of  these. 
This  affirmation  of  a  definite  limit  of  our  knoioledge  seems 
superb  in  its  humility.     We  may  prefer  the  word  Ignoramus : 
at  all  events  it  does  not  take  away  from  us  the  hope,  and  with 
that  the  poiver,  of  extending  the  domain   of  the   knowable, 
although  from  every  discovery  there  arises  the  evidence  of  nevj 
gaps  in  our  knowledge,  just  as  occurs  with  a  body  illuminated 
on  one  side,  ivhieh,  in  proportion  as  it  becomes  more  volu- 
minous throws  also  a  larger  cone  of  shadow.      The  Jacobin  of       ^ 
the   old   order   cried   out,    '  With    each  step  of  scieiwe^God^^-^^'^^'*^^ 
recedes  a  step!     If  ^  God^  is  the  synthetic ^"^cpFession  (and,     ,       j   ->j-(i 
let  us  say,  the  author)  of  the  cosmio^aw,~with  each  step 
that  science  takes  His  domain  extends  and  proves  itself  to  be   /  ^"^-^"^ 
ever  more  clearly  infinite."  tfyij^ 

What  we  find,  in  fact,  is  that  with  every  discovery  we  ■' 

make  the  extent  of  our  ignorance  appears  more  clearly 
before  our  eyes.  Each  time  the  light  of  science  enables 
us  to  clear  up  some  obscure  point  of  the  unknown,  we 
see  better  the  frailty  of  human  theories  and  we  under- 
stand more  clearly  how  feeble  is  the  intelligence  of  man  in 
the  presence  of  the  Infinite. 


^~r^ 


Printed  by  Ballantyne,  Hanson  b=  Co. 
Edinburgh  if  London 


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